Time to Save the World Again
by ZeldinaDreamermoon
Summary: Ten-year-old Harry Potter made a wish; a wish that brought him to a strange forest were the children are accompanied by fairies, have pointed ears and wear green tunics. Once his confusion has settled he makes friends with the only other child who doesn't have a fairy. This is their story. Warning: there is going to be slash later on in the story. If you don't like then don't read!
1. Prologue

Oh, oh hey!

This is my first created story though it isn't the first published one. Just like any other person on FanFiction I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Harry Potter series. Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, and Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. I just happen to be fooling around in their universes.

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><p><em>~Prologue ~<em>

It was a sunny day at number four Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey. In the back yard the smallest occupant of the house was currently re-weeding the garden. He was doing this because he apparently hadn't done a good enough job the first time around. His hands were sore from pulling out the nettles under the rosebushes. The gloves he wore were worn, and the nettle leaves burned his hands through the seams.

Aunt Petunia had given them to him and he was grateful for that at least.

_'__Stupid nettles, always coming back,'_ the boy thought as he pulled another stem out of the flowerbed. Thankfully this one had a rather big root attached to it. He dumped it on the pile next to him.

He hissed as a nettle burned him. _'It's like the couch grass,' _he thought before he wiped his forehead on his to long sleeve, _'and the dandelions.'_ The boy smiled slightly; he liked the dandelions. The flower was yellow and when he worked with them his hands got these weird spots – both brown and yellow. _'The clocks are nice though,'_ he thought.

Aunt Petunia had gone haywire when he blew on the clocks a few years ago, spreading seeds all around the garden. _'It had been worth it, though,' _a smile spread over his face as he thought about it.

"Aren't you done yet," the shrill voice of his Aunt Petunia cut through the soft buzzing of insects.

The boy quickly wiped the smile off his face. It wouldn't do showing his aunt that he enjoyed himself. "Almost Aunt Petunia," he answered.

"Well, you better get a move on or there won't be any supper for you," she said.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," the boy replied.

Not that he would be getting much supper anyway since they usually fed him the table scraps. The family he lived with were supposedly his mother's relatives. Aunt Petunia was his mother sister, but she hated talking about her. And they – well, they didn't feed him all that much. His Uncle, Vernon, was a big man while his Aunt Petunia was a willowy woman. They looked like he ate her food as well as his own. They had a child his cousin Dudley, who was a very big boy. Vernon and Dudley ate like pigs so there was normally not all that much left when they were done.

_'__I wish there was somewhere else I could go . . . somewhere with no Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon or Cousin Dudley – or annoying nettles that just won't disappear'_ he thought as he pulled the last nettle out of the flowerbed. It wasn't the first time he had wished to be somewhere else. He had often dreamed that some unknown relative would come and take him away from this place… but it never happened.

The boy took off his gloves and inspected the small burns that the nettles had left on his hands. They hurt but knowing his Aunt he wouldn't be getting any treatment for them.

He breathed in looking around the garden. He loved working in the garden; it was soothing. The garden was his favourite part of the house. It smelled so nice and fresh. _'Nothing like bleach,'_ he thought with a shudder. He hated bleach.

…

Later that night, the boy was lying in his cupboard. He slept in the cupboard under the stairs in the house despite there being an unused bedroom on the second floor but that was reserved for his cousin's broken toys. He was still hungry from the meagre meal he had been given that evening. Laying there he once again hoped for a different life.

And this time…

Something would happen…


	2. Glimmering Greens

**Glimmering Greens**

.

. I don't own Legend of Zelda Nintendo does.

* * *

><p>The forest was quiet, calm; most of its residents had gone to sleep for the night. A lone wolfos was searching for its mate; a Deku scrub was arranging its leaves for rest. No one noticed as a small boy appeared in the soft green grass. His thin blanket was barely enough to keep him warm in the chill air, but he slept on far too used to the cold to notice.<p>

…

"Who is he?" "Where is he from?"

"How did he get here?" "What are these?"

Chattering voices woke the little boy up the following morning. He blinked, everything was blurry and green. _'Why is everything so green?' _he wondered.

"Hey back off and give him some space," a soft female voice reached the boy's ears. A shape moved past the others and up closer to him while snatching something from one of the others. It kneeled down in front of him. "These are yours are they not?" she asked and handed him his glasses.

Small nimble fingers reached up and placed the black rimmed glasses over brilliant green eyes. He looked around once more. The blurry green haze had turned into trees and bushes and a whole group of children all clad in green. They were staring at him. He bit his lip; he really didn't like people staring at him.

"O.K. come on leave us alone you're making him uncomfortable," the girl closest to him told the others. They grumbled but did as they were told. As the other children left, the girl turned back around and said "Hi, I'm Saria, who are you?"

The boy looked up at the girl, Saria. She had green hair. He blinked. _'Aunt Petunia definitely would not like her, not with that hair colour,' _he thought. Then he said, "My name is Harry," cautiously.

"Harry," Saria smiled at him, "it's nice to meet you," she said and held out a hand to help him off the ground.

Once standing, the small boy looked around again. _'Where am I? How did I get here? Who are these children and_ "Is that a fairy?" he exclaimed before he could stop himself.

_'__Don't ask questions' _Uncle Vernon's voice rang through his head. It had been the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Harry twirled his fingers into his overly large sweater.

Saria, however, smiled at him and said, "Yes, he is a fairy; he is my guardian fairy in fact," she held out her hand and the orange creature landed in her palm. "All Kokiri have a guardian fairy," she stated. "They protect and guide us."

"Kokiri?" Harry asked confused. _'What on earth is a Kokiri?'_

"Yes, that is what we're called. This forest is Kokiri Forest, and it's guarded by the Great Deku Tree," Saria explained.

They had been walking as they spoke and now they were standing in front of what looked to be a giant stump.

Saria moved up to the stump and said, "This is my home please come in and we'll get something to eat. You must be hungry." As she finished Harry's stomach rumbled causing him to blush.

"See I was right you are hungry," Saria said and smiled at him. She placed several kinds of, what Harry had to assume was, fruit on the table but none of it looked like what he was used to. No apples or bananas or oranges.

The regular colours were there, though. Green, yellow, red, purple and… blue?

_'__They taste nice,'_ Harry thought as he started eating. He bit in to a yellow fruit which it turned out tasted a lot like strawberries actually.

"Hey Saria you got some to spare?"

Harry turned. A boy was standing in the doorway, his floppy green hat hanging from his belt and his blond hair was at least as unruly as Harry's own raven mop.

Saria laughed and answered, "Yes Link I have some to spare but you better replace what you eat."

Link smiled, sat down, and started eating as well.

The atmosphere around the table was peaceful as they ate.

Harry's head was swimming with questions.

And, Link was wondering just who the new kid was. The new boy had black hair almost like the feathers of a guay, and big green eyes which were partly covered by some sort of weird glass.

After a while Harry gathered his courage and asked, "What is the Great Deku Tree?"

"Well the Great Deku Tree is a who not a what to begin with, and he is, as I told you earlier, the guardian of this forest," Saria said. "He is also the one that grants each Kokiri their guardian fairy," she continued.

"Yeah," Link piped in, "I'm currently the only one living here who doesn't have a fairy," he said and rolled his eyes.

Saria smiled at Link before she said, "You really shouldn't listen to Mido you know. He doesn't know everything and the others don't really care whether you have a fairy or not." She turned back to Harry. "I'm more interested in where you are from though. Your clothes are strange not to mention those glass things," Saria said.

"Oh," Harry said. "I'm from Surrey in England."

"England, where is that?" Saria asked.

"In Great Britain which is a part of Europe," Harry answered. He had done quite well in geography after all. Even though, he couldn't hand in most of the work he'd done because of the Dursleys.

"Hmm," Saria looked thoughtful, "I don't think I have ever heard about a place called Great Britain or Europe before," she said and stood up. "I should probably go and speak to the Great Deku Tree. Maybe he knows where that is." She walked over to the door turning at threshold. "Link," she said, "will you show Harry around please, and gather some more fruit." She gave a pointed look at the amount of peals and cores lying on the table in front of him.

"Oh, eh, O.K," Link said looking a bit sheepish. As Saria left, the blond turned to Harry and motioned for him to get up so they could leave as well. "So, that house is mine," Link said and pointed to his right after they had left Saria's house.

Harry turned around. Link's house had a balcony and the entrance seemed to be up there rather than at ground level like with Saria's house.

"And if you continue down that path you get to the Great Mido's house," Link rolled his eyes and pointed, "on the right and the Know-it-All Brothers' house up the hill to the left. If you continue straight you get to the village exit. They say that a Kokiri will die if he or she leaves the forest. Though, I don't know how true that is, and it isn't like anyone is going to try either."

Harry nodded, storing the information away for later use, and then his brows furrowed. "Why are they called the Know-it-All Brothers," he asked.

"Well it's because they know everything about mostly anything," Link answered and ran his hand through his un-kept locks. "And they will pretty much talk to anyone who's patient enough to listen," he continued.

Harry looked around. He thought it was sort of cool to live in stump houses. There didn't seem to be any grown-ups around either which was a bonus in his opinion. He noticed that most of the children, or Kokiri as they apparently called themselves, were looking at him and Link. Saria's words earlier seemed to be keeping them at a distance still, though, which was perfectly fine with him. He followed Link walking slowly and trying to see as much as possible. Then he noticed a sort of bridge going over their heads.

"You want to go up there?" Link asked. He had tried to steal a glance at the raven and noticed that the boy's attention seemed to be focused on the bridge above them. "We would be able to see better from up there you know."

"Yeah, I guess that would be nice," Harry answered.

Link nodded and led the two of them up a ramp that was built around the back of Saria's house.

When they reached the top, Link ran out on the bridge only to turn around as he reached the first pillar the bridge was anchored to. There was a second one that was positioned to the left of the first. A blond girl was standing on top of it.

Harry on the other hand was a tad bit cautious at going out on the wooden bridge mostly because it lacked any kind of railing. He bit his lower lip, _'It's going to hurt an awful lot if I fall down from here,' _he thought a bit scared.

"It's O.K. come on out here," Link called and motioned for Harry to start walking.

Harry twirled his fingers into his too big sweater and took a tentative step forward. He wasn't too fond of heights especially not after Aunt Marge's favourite bulldog Ripper had chased him up a tree, just a few weeks ago, and forced him to stay there until well past midnight.

"It's fine I won't let you fall," Link said startling the smaller boy. The blond was suddenly standing right next to Harry.

The raven looked up at the blue-eyed boy his green orbs wide.

Link held out a hand for Harry to take. "I'll help you across O.K." he said with a comforting smile.

Harry reached out warily and grabbed Link's hand. "O.K." he said nervously.

Link took a firm hold of the much smaller hand before guiding the raven slowly as they made their way over to the first pillar.

_'__Link was right,'_ Harry thought as he looked around, _'the view is quite good from up here.'_

There was a small waterfall which filled a pond with clear blue water and small patches of what looked to be cloverleaves with yellow flowers spread around the village. Harry blinked. There were small balls of yellowish light with tails moving about the two of them. "What are those?" he asked and pointed at the little orbs.

"Hmm," Link turned his head to look at what had caught the smaller boy's attention. "Oh, those. They are forest wisps. They're completely harmless," he answered. He pulled at the raven's hand and pointed. "So, that," he said, "is the store. Not that they really sell anything you'd normally need but it could be good to know anyway. And through the opening to the right of the store is the entrance to the Great Deku Tree's meadow and then there's the Twins' house. That is pretty much it really," Link finished.

For a moment they just stood there.

Looking around

Thinking

Letting the soft breeze ruffle their hair

_'__This place is nothing like back at Privet Drive,'_ Harry thought. _'It's so calm, and it smells different too. I guess they don't have any cars around here.'_ He held out his hand and one of the forest wisps landed in his palm. It was warm and the soft glow was comforting.

"Well isn't that cute," the female Kokiri Harry had seen earlier said as she walked up to them. She had broken the calm atmosphere around the boys. "Won't you introduce us Link?!" she asked.

Harry quickly pulled his hand out of Link's warm one. He regretted losing the comfort the blond provided but the girl in front of him made him really uncomfortable, and he knew from his Uncle Vernon that boys were not supposed to hold hands.

Link gave the girl a mock glare as the raven moved back. He sighed and said, "Harry this is Fado. Fado this is Harry," he motioned between them.

"It's nice to meet you Harry," Fado said.

The raven shifted nervously. This girl was too forward for his taste. Luckily for him he didn't need to answer because another voice broke through the somewhat awkward silence.

"So rumour was right another No-Fairy has appeared," an orange-haired boy said, "think you can just show up and expect to be accepted, huh."

"That's Mido," Link whispered to Harry who was looking at the new boy cautiously. "Don't listen to him. He's just trying to rile you up. He acts like the leader of this place but if the Great Deku Tree says you can stay he can't do anything about it," he said trying to reassure the raven. Green eyes looked up at him widely. "Saria is speaking to the Great Deku Tree. She 'll convince him." Seeing that he wasn't making much progress he looked down at Mido and said, "Leave him alone Mido. He's got enough problems without you trying to bully him as well."

Mido huffed. "We don't need another strange No-Fairy here," he said.

Link just shook his head in annoyance and said, "Come on Harry let's go gather some fruit." He took the raven's hand once more and helped him back over the bridge leaving the other children behind.

They got back to the ground. Link tightened his grip on Harry's hand. He led the raven down the path which he'd said would lead them out of the forest. As they passed Mido's house, however, the blond led them off the path to the right and up a ledge which stretched out behind the stump house. He let go of Harry and climbed up before reaching back down. "Here I'll help you up," he said grabbing on to the smaller boy's hand once more and pulling him up beside him.

They were facing a wall full of vines.

Harry turned to look at Link questioningly.

"These are easy to climb," the blond told him, "you just have to make certain that you get a good hold that's all."

_'__Yeah right,'_ Harry thought doubtfully but he followed the blonde's lead anyway.

Once they, after a bit of trial and error, had reached the top Link said, "We will be entering the Lost Woods so stay close to me it's kind of hard to find your way in there when you've never been there before."

They entered the woods and soon after turned left. Link began pointing out which fruits were edible and which fruits to avoid – either because they were dangerous or because they simply tasted really bad – as they went.

The blue ones were funny. When you tried to pick one they would all disappear into a cocoon of sorts and you had to tickle the cocoon to get the fruit back out.

Red were sour.

Green were sweet unless they looked like pears because then they were spicy. Almost like chilli.

Yellow were Harry's favourite they were sweet but had an acid touch to them which was nice.

…

Once the boys decided that they'd gathered enough fruit, they started making their way back to Saria's house.

As Link and Harry walked up the path to the stump, Harry decided to ask a question that had been bothering him for a while, "Why is the forest called the Lost Woods?"

Link blinked. "Oh, that's because it's very easy to get lost in there of course," he said as they entered the stump. "Some even say that people who lose themselves in the woods turn into Stalfos."

"Stalfos?" Harry's voice was questioning.

"Mmhm, big mean skeleton warriors. Though, they say kids turn into Skull kids not Stalfos," Link said.

"Are you trying to scare the poor boy Link? That's not very nice of you," Saria said as she entered the house.

Link looked at her startled before he turned to Harry. His eyes widened, _'she is right he looks kind of scared,' _he thought. "Oh," he said "I didn't mean to . . . It's not like we would ever let you get lost in there Harry," he walked over to the smaller boy and gave him a reassuring hug.

Harry, who was unused to any kind of positive contact, tensed as the blond pulled him closer. It took several minutes for him to relax into the warm embrace. _'This is nice' _he thought breathing in the calming scent of dew on morning leaves that seemed to radiate from the blond.

"Hey, have you never gotten a hug before Harry?" Link asked jokingly as the small raven gave a pleased sigh.

Harry tore away from the blond almost immediately, blushing and looking extremely uncomfortable. He started twirling his fingers into the baggy shirt as he bit his lower lip nervously. He wondered miserably if they would throw him out now. He was a freak and he knew it. A part of him had just hoped that maybe… maybe things would be different here. Link and Saria they had been so nice to him.

Link watched the raven-haired boy withdraw. The boy's fingers were making intricate knots in his shirt. Then he could see how green eyes glazed with tears but no fell. "You really haven't had a proper hug before," Link said now sounding concerned more than anything else. He reached out and grabbed a hold of the boy, who looked an awful lot like a scared hare. Pulling him into a tight embrace once more, he said, "Here I'll give you another one."

Harry allowed the bigger boy to envelope him again with only a minor flinch this time. He was still biting his lip. He breathed in through his nose slowly. He had no idea what to do. He never got hugs. He didn't know how to respond. Eventually he did relax once more thinking, _'Hugs are nice.' _He rubbed his face against Link's tunic, _'. . . Link's warm.'_ He sighed. He liked this. It felt safe.

Link looked down at the boy in his arms. He could see the raven calming, eyelids falling shut._ 'I'll get him used to hugs,' _he thought._ 'I wonder what kind of people he lived with for him to flinch like that when I hug him,' _he pondered.

Across the room Saria, whose thoughts were going in a very similar direction, met the blonde's eyes. An unspoken message passed between them before Link lowered his gaze. "Link," she said, "can Harry stay with you tonight?"

Link looked back up at her. "Yeah sure he can." He looked down at the boy in his arms. "Do you want to stay with me Harry?" he asked.

Harry looked up, green eyes met blue, "Yeah, I'd like that," he said. A small flutter spread through his stomach. Link wanted him to stay with him. No one had ever wanted him around before.

A small smile spread over his face as they sat down to eat.

* * *

><p>Days passed in the Kokiri Forest. Days filled with fruit gathering, laugher, skinny-dipping, hide-n-seek – together with many other games that the Kokiri liked to play – and adventures which Link and Harry often claimed to have disappeared on.<p>

It didn't actually take all that long for Harry to relax around the children. One of the reasons was most likely because there were no adults around. Children were easier to trust because the only reason that they had avoided him in England was Dudley. Now that no Dudley existed the kids had nothing against playing with him.

It turned out that the Great Deku Tree didn't know where England or Great Britain or even Europe was so Harry stayed with the Kokiri in their forest.

Days became weeks and weeks became months. Nothing really changed until one day when Harry left Link's house early. – He had never left the blonde's house. He had stayed there together with the bigger boy. It had created a very strong bond between them. – That day Link was summoned by the Great Deku Tree.

…

Harry was walking down the path leading to Link's house. His brows furrowed as he saw Saria standing by the ladder leading up to the balcony of the house. "Hi Saria, what are you doing here?" Harry asked the green-haired girl.

"Hi Harry," she said as she turned towards him. "Haven't you heard? Link finally got himself a fairy, and the Great Deku Tree wanted to talk to him for some reason."

"Oh O.K.," Harry said. He didn't quite know what to think. Was he happy for Link or _'yeah I'm glad he got himself a fairy but what about me? I know that I'm not going to get one. I'm human not a forest child,'_ he thought.

It had been one of those things that had brought him and Link closer together during the time he had been there. Harry was scared of losing that. He made his way up the ladder. "I'm so stupid. It isn't like Link is suddenly going to change just because he has a fairy," he told himself as he placed some newly gathered fruit in the bowl on the table.

This wasn't the first time he had needed to fight his own insecurities. They sort of came and went but recently it was nowhere near as common. Link had been really understanding, though. Especially after, he had shared his past with the blond. Link had been seriously pissed off then. Before that the bigger boy had just gotten confused whenever he would close off. After he would get a hug and Link wouldn't leave him alone.

…

By midday Harry was starting to get a little worried. _'Where is he?'_ he wondered. _'Talking to the Great Deku Tree shouldn't take this long, right?'_

"HARRY, HARRY," it was Saria calling.

Harry walked out on the balcony. "Yes Saria what is it?" he asked.

"It's the Great Deku Tree my fairy says that he has died, and Link he . . ."

"What about Link. Is he O.K. he has to be," Harry's heart was racing. Link couldn't be hurt he just couldn't.

"Yes Link is fine it's just that he is bound to leave the forest," Saria hurried to tell the distraught raven.

_'__Link leave, oh no, not without me he won't,' _Harry thought but he had to focus on Saria right now since she was speaking once more.

"I'm going to go wait for him by the exit. Will you come with me Harry?" the green haired girl asked.

"Yes I'll come with you," Harry said and climbed down the ladder from the balcony, jumping the last few steps. He walked up to Saria and she took his hand.

Together they walked up to the main path of Kokiri Forest. Saria let out a long sigh as they walked. Normally Harry would ask what was wrong, but he was wound so tightly he didn't think he could manage right now.

They walked over to the bridge which lay just before the forest exit. Saria stopped by the railing looking back the way they'd come while Harry sat down next to her. He closed his eyes and listened. They didn't have to wait long. The sound of footsteps reached their ears soon after shortly followed by Link running past them.

"Oh, you're leaving…" Saria said stopping the blond in his tracks. He turned around to face her, eyes wide. "I knew that you would leave the forest someday, Link…" she continued. "Because you are different from the rest of us."

"Saria I . . ." Link started saying…

But he was interrupted by Saria saying, "But that's O.K., because we'll be friends forever…won't we?"

"Yes of course we will," Link reassured her.

Harry sat there watching the other two interact with a small smile on his face. They were so silly sometimes.

"I want you to have this ocarina Link. Please take good care of it." Saria said as she pulled out a beautiful wooden ocarina from a pouch.

"Thank you Saria," Link said as she handed him the instrument.

"When you play my ocarina, I hope you will think of me and come back to the forest to visit," she told him.

"I will, I promise," he said before he turned around and tried to dash out of the forest. He didn't manage.

Harry had moved so that he was standing behind his blond friend as Link finished speaking to Saria. "You really think that I will allow you to leave here without me, huh," he said.

Link looked shocked for a moment before he took on a very serious expression. "It will be dangerous Harry," he said.

Harry snorted before replying, "All the more reason not to let you go alone Link."

"I won't be able to convince you to stay will I?" Link asked his smaller friend.

"Nope," the raven responded and grabbed the blonde's hand, "I will be coming with you whether you like it or not," he said leaving absolutely no room for argument as he started walking towards the forest exit. "Bye Saria, I'll make certain that we come back here to visit sometime O.K." he called over his shoulder with a wave of his unoccupied hand.

The two boys could hear the soft laughter of their green haired friend as they made their way out of the forest.

…

"Link, where are we going?" Harry asked his friend as he jumped over a fallen tree branch.

"Oh, we are going to see the Princess of Destiny in Hyrule Castle," Link said. He pulled something out of his tunic. "We need to show her this," he said and held up a green stone with a gold swirl like the end of a leaf holding the stone.

"It's pretty," Harry said as he reached out to touch it.

"Yeah, it is . . . kind of like your eyes," Link responded. His eyes widened as he realised what he had just said.

Harry was blushing. "I'm not pretty," he said with a huff.


	3. Hide-and-Sneak

**Hide-and-Sneak**

Two boys were walking through the forest. They went almost unnoticed. A guay took off as they approached it but apart from that nothing changed because of their journey. Eventually as they walked the trees started thinning out leaving more room for vegetation. It slowed their progress somewhat, but they didn't mind.

Harry was a bit put out with his blond friend even though it really made little sense. Link had called him pretty. Well, the blond had said that the Kokiri Emerald was pretty and that his eyes looked like the Emerald, but Harry was embarrassed anyway.

The blond and raven continued walking in silence for a while after that. They were holding hands still, but Link could feel that Harry had no wish to talk to him for the time being. He tugged at the smaller boy's hand hoping to get a reaction.

It worked in the end.

Harry couldn't keep quiet. It made him uncomfortable which meant that he was the one to break the silence. "So, Link what happened, while you were with the Great Deku Tree?" he asked tentatively, not wanting to make his friend upset as they were leaving the only place either of them had ever called home.

"Oh, yeah, so the Great Deku Tree summoned me," Link said excitedly, "and Mido wouldn't let me through to the meadow of course." He rolled his eyes.

"What did he do this time?" Harry asked somewhat amused. Mido and he had never really gotten along. He had been used to Dudley though so the Kokiri didn't really faze him. Mido was nowhere near as bad as his Cousin.

"You know Mido. He went all, _'you need to have a sword and a shield with you' _which I had to go find, by the way, and then when I had them he just had to call me a wimp." Link snorted. "He got all grumpy though. Certainly didn't like the fact that I'm friends with Saria and then the Great Deku Tree just had to pick me over him, you know," he continued.

Harry started laughing. "He is so jealous of you, you know," he said once he could breathe again.

"Oh, and the Great Deku Tree told me that the reason I've been having nightmares is because of some great evil that's spreading across the land." Link said dramatically while waving his hands about.

Harry burst out laughing again. _'Din, Link looks ridiculous.'_ He stumbled slightly and his blond friend caught him.

"Hey calm down Harry you'll hurt yourself," Link said as he pulled the raven closer holding the smaller boy as he laughed. "What's so funny anyway?" he asked.

Harry wiped tears from his eyes. "Yo…you looked so… stupid," he started laughing again.

Link rolled his eyes a smile playing on his lips. "Look stupid do I huh? You better watch it," he threatened.

Harry took a deep breath calming himself. He turned around slowly and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist. "I'm sorry Link," he said before burying his face in the bigger boy's chest.

It took a while for Harry to stop laughing bit once he did they started walking once more. Now the silence between them was light and comfortable rather than awkward. They were both contemplating what was going to happen now.

Harry truly hoped that this Princess of Destiny would be willing to speak with them, but it all sounded a bit surreal to him. What with the threat of evil and a princess and then the shining emerald that Link was carrying.

They could see the treeline now. Beyond the last trees there was big green plain and huge blue sky.

Link let go of Harry's hand so he could run the last bit. He stared at the sky, spinning around. He was wide-eyed. The trees were gone. Well he could see a tree or two but it was nothing like the forest. Soft green grass, a few shades lighter than what he was used to, stretched as far as his eyes could see.

Before them lay a gravelled path which disappeared of in the distance.

"It's so big," Link said, "and open . . . look at the sky," he pointed up. He was amazed. He'd never seen anything like it before.

"Hoot, hoo. Look up here little ones."

Link and Harry jumped in fright and spun around. There was no one there. Who had spoken to them?

"It appears the time has finally come for you to start your adventure!"

Harry blinked. There was an owl sitting on a branch a few feet away. He raised an eyebrow. _'Did the owl just speak to us?' _he wondered.

"You will encounter many hardships ahead… That is your fate," the owl said.

_'__O.K. the owl did speak to us; that is just weird,' _Harry thought.

"Don't feel discouraged, even during the toughest times!" the owl continued.

_'__Really what is this some kind of weird morale-booster owl or what?' _Harry thought.

"If you go straight this way, you will see Hyrule Castle."

_'__Well that's actually kind of useful,'_ Link thought. _'If we go straight we get to the castle, goody.'_

"You will meet the princess there…"

Harry snorted. _'Well at least he is confident of that,'_ he thought.

"Did you get all that? I don't have to repeat myself do I?" the owl asked.

"No, we're fine. We got it. Head straight, get to the castle and meet the princess," Link hurried to say. He certainly did not want to listen to that owl any longer, and he was eager to get going.

"All right then, I'll see you around! Hoot hoot hoot ho!" the owl said and took off.

"Now that was one weird owl," Harry said.

"You can say that again. I'd rather not have to ever listen to him…" Link shuddered.

"So straight ahead and up the hill," Harry said and started walking.

"Yep," Link said as he tried to catch up with his friend.

"Well at least the owl seemed very confident that we would meet the princess. Don't you think?" Harry mentioned as they strode up the slight hill they had been facing.

"Mhmm," was Link's response. "You wouldn't happen to have any food with you?" he asked after a while.

"Really Link," Harry sighed, "you go off to… I don't know, save the world, and you can't even do a bit of planning ahead. How would you have made it without me," he said and gave Link a pointed look.

"Eh, you do have food don't you," Link said and looked at Harry with puppy-dog-eyes.

Harry just shook his head. He dropped his backpack to the ground and pulled out a red something or another – he had never really tried to learn what all the strange fruits they ate on a regular basis were called – and handed it to Link.

The blond gave him a huge smile and tore into the soft fruit, fruit juice dripping down his chin.

Harry snorted. "Really Link you eat like a lame Deku Baba," he said.

"Wa… ou ta…"

"Shush Link don't speak with your mouth full."

Once Link had cleaned up they continued walking. The bright sun of day was setting, and the twilight of dusk was spreading across the field. They could see the Castle Town now. They were, however, convinced that night would fall before they made it there. That and they were tired both were yawning loudly. Every step they took seemed to take more and more out of them.

"We should find a good spot to settle down for the night in," Harry said tiredly.

"Yeah," Link yawned, "we should."

"We need to get to the castle as soon as possible!" a little blue fairy told the boys.

"Hmm," Harry looked up at – _'him, her'_ – he didn't know, "we won't be of much use if we faint from exhaustion now will we," he said.

"But the Great Deku Tree…"

"Shush Navi," Link said, "we'll get there tomorrow. I doubt that the princess will see us in the middle of the night anyway."

Ignoring any further attempts made by the fairy to convince them of doing otherwise, the boys found a nice spot under a nearby tree to rest.

Sitting down, Harry pulled out two blankets from his backpack together with some more fruit. It was quickly devoured after which the raven wrapped his blanket around himself before moving closer to Link curling up against him. He sighed as the blonde's heat seeped through the fabric of the blanket and his tunic warming him up.

Together they saw the last rays of sun bouncing of a stream below them. The sun set and Link lay down pulling the raven closer. It didn't take long for both boys to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Harry sat up suddenly breathing heavily. He hadn't had nightmares involving the Dursleys for quite some time now. He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing but his mind was filled with images from the dream. He whimpered.<p>

"Sssshhh Harry," Link said anxiously from somewhere above him. A warm hand landed on his shoulder stroking it slowly.

Harry looked up. _'Link sounds worried,'_ he thought. It wasn't just worry on the blonde's face, though. He looked scared. Harry blinked slowly. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong but then he heard it.

Crunch!

Thud!

Crunch!

Thud!

There was something out there moving around in the dark.

Harry shivered and edged closer to Link, who wrapped an arm around him.

"Now what did I say we should have continued," Navi said, her blue glow lighting up the ground around them.

"Shhh," both boys told her. "Do you want whatever that is out there to find us," Link went on. They were all terrified of what might happen should they fall back to sleep, but the long walk had taken much out of the boys. It would not take long before sleep was pulling them back into the abyss.

…

When they awoke the next morning the sun was up. As they were eager to get away from the creepy plain, they decided to eat as they went.

Harry packed their blankets quickly, stood up and grabbed Link's hand already feeling safer.

It was a beautiful morning. The birds were singing, and once in a while a small rodent would poke its head out of one of the many burrows littering the field.

The boys soon realised that they could see no sign of what must have been going on the night before. Of course, neither boy felt anywhere near as scared by the weird sounds now when the sun was up as they had been the previous night. They even stated playing a messed up sort of tag which involved a lot of falling down and rolling around in the grass.

By midday they had reached Castle Town. It was huge up close. Wide eyed, they entered the town.

"Welcome to Hyrule Castle Town. It's a peaceful, prosperous town," the guard at the drawbridge greeted them as they entered.

"Thank you," Harry responded with a slight nod. He tightened his hold on the blonde's hand before they walked in among the houses lining the street.

For the two boys the place felt crowded compared to the forest they were used to. All the stone was uncomfortable towering over them but not feeling safe the way trees would to them. Luckily they soon came upon the town square. It was filled with people, at least from the boys' point of view.

People arguing with stall owners

Men fooling around laughing

A couple were dancing by the grand fountain in the centre of the square, and a little girl was chasing a cucco around.

It was all so colourful in comparison to the never-ending green the boys were used to. It was also bright and loud not that Kokiri Forest had been a quiet place, but it was a very different kind of noise. They stared, eyes wide, at anything and everything.

"I swear, I got past the guards and found this small hole in the side of the castle wall. I got stuck when I tried to sneak through, though," a man said when the boys walked by.

They didn't pay him much attention, however. The scent of food had just whiffed past them. And they were hungry.

Link followed his nose over to a stand dragging Harry with him. "Mmm, I'd like one of those," he said and pointed at something resembling a grilled fish.

"That will be 12 rupees a piece young man," the stall owner said.

For the first time since Harry had met Link he was glad that his friend couldn't seem to keep from gathering stuff because Link quickly fished out four little blue stones and four green stones to pay the man.

"Here," Link gave one of the grilled fish to Harry.

They went back to looking around as they ate.

By the fountain there was a girl, who looked roughly their age, with burnt-orange hair and a white dress with a yellow scarf. They approached her slowly finishing the fish off. The girl turned around her blue eyes met Link's. "Hey, your clothes! They're different… You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.

"No, we are from the Kokiri Forest actually," Link said a bit taken back by the girl's straightforwardness.

"Ohh, you're a fairy boy from the forest! My name is Malon! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch!" she exclaimed.

"It's nice to meet you Malon I'm Link and this is Harry," Link said and motioned towards the raven who Malon seemed to have missed completely.

"Oh, hi Harry sorry I didn't see you there that's weird," Malon said apologetically. She smiled sweetly at him.

"It's O.K." Harry responded with a small smile. He honestly didn't care if she saw him or not.

"So if you're from a ranch what are you doing here in town?" Link asked Malon.

"Dad went to the castle to deliver some milk, and he hasn't come back yet…" she answered and turned back to look at the fountain.

"Oh, O.K." Link said and scratched his head. The girl seemed content with leaving the conversation at that so he was a bit bewildered. Feeling a tug on his sleeve his focus shifted to Harry. He smiled at the raven then he nudged his forehead against the smaller boys head affectionately.

Harry giggled, his eyes sparkling. He dragged Link away from the somewhat obtrusive redhead.

They walked around some more after that not noticing that they split up as they wandered.

"Link," Harry called suddenly as he realised that his taller friend was nowhere to be seen. He spun around his eyes searching and his fingers twisted into the fabric of his tunic in panic. His eyes had started tearing as he looked around frantically.

"Here Harry, look I bought a shield at the bazar isn't it awesome," Link said excitedly from behind him.

Harry turned around and blinked. Link was holding something up less than an inch from his face, and it was all a big blue blur to him. He backed away a few steps so he could actually see what it was as he blinked his tears from his eyes. It was a good looking shield, with the Triforce seated above a red bird its wings spread on a blue background.

"Harry are you alright?" Link asked as he noticed the raven's fingers all knotted up in the green Kokiri tunic he wore.

Harry looked down and untwisted his fingers. "You disappeared," he whispered biting his lower lip.

Link's eyes widened. He stepped forward dragging the shield with him. He dropped it before wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, "Sorry," he mumbled against the raven locks.

"It's O.K." the raven blushed slightly. He didn't want Link to worry about him really even though it was nice. After a few moments of standing there in the safety of the blonde's arms, Harry looked down at the shield. "Eh Link are you really strong enough to carry that on one arm," he asked.

"Oh," Link looked at the shield. "Hadn't thought of that," he said. He let go of the raven before trying and failing to use the shield. "Hmph," he looked disappointed.

"Well," Harry didn't like the look on Link's face, "you never know it might come in handy," he said to cheer his friend up. Link smiled at him while handing him the shield so he could take care of it. Harry took his backpack off and as Navi asked, "So are we going to meet with the Princess of Destiny now," for the umph time, he fastened the heavy metal to the pack.

"Yeah, I guess but we'll need to get there first," Link said and started looking around.

"Over there," Harry said and pointed, "that sign says 'To Castle Road'"

"Yeah, great let's go," Link grabbed Harry's hand once more and started walking, dragging the smaller boy along.

…

The Castle Road led them through a pass with high cliff faces on either side of the road. A single tree grew at the turn in the road. Small rock lay by its trunk. Link lifted one of the stones and tree little blue beetles scurried off trying to find a new shelter. A voice broke through the silence. "Hey Link, this way."

It was the weird owl.

_'__Oh, now not him again, _they groaned simultaneously.

"The princess is inside the castle just ahead."

_'__Oh great to know, not like we had no idea where to look for her,'_ Link rolled his eyes.

"Be careful not to get caught by the guards! Ho ho ho hoot!" the owl said and took off.

"Hmph, annoying owl," Harry huffed.

"Yeah, I'd say it's pretty logical that we'd find the **Princess** **in** the **Castle** don't you think," Link said shaking his head.

To their right they could see a big arched gate. There was a guard standing by it. The guard was watching the boys with a bored expression as they made their way up to him.

"We would like to see the Princess please," Link told him.

"So you want to see Princess Zelda, eh? You probably heard about her in town and decided you had to meet her…" the guard said with a condescending smile. "Well…" he straightened his back and sneered at them, "Go home! Get out of here! The Princess would never grant an audience to the likes of you!"

Link clenched his teeth and balled his fists, but before he could do anything Harry grabbed him.

"It isn't worth it Link," the raven hissed. "Beside you heard that guy in town. The one who snuck past the guards and the stupid owl told us to not get caught didn't he?" he said a bit louder now as he had managed to drag Link a considerable distance away from the guard.

The blond seethed but he agreed with his smaller friend, _'we'll find another way.'_ He looked around them. The cliff faces presented a problem as they were solid stone with no place to climb up.

The two boys had walked back quite some way, and still they had not seen a single good place which they could use to get up. They kept walking and looking around when...

"Are you going to the castle, fairy boy?" Malon asked as she came running up the road. "Would you mind finding my dad?" she had stopped in front of them.

"No we wouldn't mind," Link answered. He was surprised that the girl was asking for their help but it wasn't like he'd just turn her down.

"He must have fallen asleep somewhere around the castle. What a thing for an adult to do!" she said and then she giggled.

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Link who was shaking his head in amusement. _'Unbelievable,'_

"Oh yeah, if you'll look for him, I'll give you this," Malon said and handed Link an egg. "I've been incubating this egg very carefully."

Link looked at the egg. "Eh, O.K. thanks Malon," he said and Malon giggled again. The blond shifted not quite certain what to do with the situation now, when Harry tugged at his sleeve.

"Link look," the raven said.

Link turned around; Harry was pointing at some creeping vines on one of the cliff walls. He smiled at his friend they would be able to get up using those vines.

They said goodbye to Malon and walked over to the green creepers.

"You go first Harry," Link said as they reached the wall.

Harry nodded and grabbed a hold of one of the vines. He quickly made his way up and sat down in the soft grass growing up there. He was soon joined by Link and they walked carefully across the grass aware that it wouldn't be very pleasant to get caught. "There is a guard," he said and pointed to the other side of the gate's arch.

"Let's go down here." Link grabbed a hold of a ladder leading down into what must've been a small guard-house.

Fortunately for them it was unoccupied.

Link opened the door and looked out. "O.K. the guard is looking the other way now, come on," he whispered, slinked out the door and sprinted towards a dead-end path with Harry right on his heels.

They stopped to catch their breaths before looking around once more. There was a guard straight ahead and two guards up the main path to the right. They collected themselves, and then they dashed up the hill to hide among the trees there.

_'__These guards really are both deaf and blind'_ Harry thought as they snuck past yet another one of them.

It was starting to get late and they were both getting tired. Reaching a cliff which would allow for the two of them to get past the fence surrounding the castle, they climbed up the rocky surface.

_'__We'll be able to get past these guards by swimming through the moat,' _Link thought. He'd crossed the small grass clad platform they were on and was looking into the clear water of the castle's moat.

In the distance a bell sounded and the boys could see how the guards currently on duty were replaced by new ones.

There were more of them now.

Link and Harry pulled back.

"Should we wait until tomorrow morning before we continue Link?" Harry asked as he looked out over the castle grounds quickly counting the sheer number of men out there now.

"Yeah, I think that would probably be safer," Link took his floppy green cap off and ran a hand though his hair messing it up completely.

Harry snickered.

"Yeah laugh at me, do that. I'll never be as bad as that bird's nest you call hair, though," Link teased his friend.

Harry, who had bent down to take the blankets out of his backpack, turned towards Link and stuck his tongue out.

The blond laughed.

"You like my bird's nest," the raven said as he handed the taller boy his blanket.

Link smiled and reached out to ruffle his hand through the dark locks. "Yeah, I know," he said.

It didn't take long for the two boys to settle down for the night after that. Though, they lay awake for some time watching the stars and listening to the guards talking in the distance before finally falling into a deep slumber.

* * *

><p>The crowing of a cucco woke them up the next morning. Harry sat up straight, still partly asleep. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes tiredly.<p>

"What was that," Link yawned as he stretched. He hadn't reacted quite as fast as his smaller friend had.

"I don't know," Harry looked around now that he could see. "Eh, Link your egg has hatched," he said and picked up a piece of white shell from the ground.

"Huh," Link squinted, turned his head and there a few feet away from them was a cucco pecking at a patch of dirt.

"Hey Link what's that? Why do we have a cucco? Are we going to see the princess now?" Navi had awoken. She was fluttering back and forth spreading her blue light around and being just generally annoying.

Link sighed. "Good morning Navi, yes we are going to see the Princess now," he said and picked the cucco up. He turned towards the moat.

Harry packed their blanket back into his pack before joining his friend. The blond handed him the cucco before sitting down on the edge of the cliff – they had been sleeping on – and dropped down.

"Come on Harry I'll catch you," he whispered and Harry quickly followed him down still holding the cucco.

"So we probably have to swim," Link said gesturing towards the water.

Harry gave him a pointed look. "And just what are you planning on doing with this little one here then?" he asked holding the bird up.

Link studied the cucco for a moment and then said, "It can ride on my head," before he jumped in to the water.

"Link you moron," Harry murmured as the cucco's wings fluttered. Link had sprayed them with water as he hit the surface. The blond boy swam up to the edge and Harry placed the cucco on top of the floppy cap. "Stay there now birdie," he said before he slipped in to the water next to Link. The water was cold. He shuddered. He took a few strokes before turning around waiting for the bigger boy to catch up.

They swam past the closed drawbridge and turned left. There was a set of sturdy iron bars blocking their path, but just before those the bottom of the moat seemed to rise a little.

Harry swam up to the edge and pulled himself up. He sat down and reached out for the, somewhat upset, cucco lifting it off Link's head so the blond could climb up after him.

They turned.

There were several crates of milk standing before them. A man, who seemed to be sleeping, was lying by the crates.

"And I thought I was bad," Link muttered. He walked up to the man and held the cucco out.

As the cucco crowed, the sleeping man bolted upright. "What in tarnation? Can't a man get a little shut-eye around here?" he said before he noticed Link and Harry. He seemed to calm down a bit. "Hello, and who might you be?" he asked them.

"Hello I'm Link and this is Harry. I'm wondering, are you Malon's father?" Link responded politely.

"Yep, I'm Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. I went to the castle to deliver some milk, but I sat down here to rest, and I guess I fell asleep…"

"You know Malon is waiting for you in town right? She asked us to come looking for you," Harry said.

"What?! Malon was looking for me? I'm gonna catch it from her now! I messed up bad, leaving Malon behind to wait for me!" Talon said and then he ran off calling, "She's really gonna let me have it!"

"That's one weird man," Harry stated. He looked around. "How are we going to get over there then?" he asked Link motioning towards a small hole in the castle wall were water seemed to be pouring out.

"Well," Link said and took a look around. "We could move the milk crates and then jump from them," he suggested.

Harry nodded. _'That appears to be a good idea' _he thought as he looked back at the small ledge before the hole.

The two boys started moving crates.

Once the crates had fallen in place in the moats water, first Link and then Harry jumped over and disappeared through the hole. The water that had been streaming out of the opening came from a small pool.

Link walked forward. "You'll never guess what's out here Harry," he said as he peeked around a corner.

"The Castle Courtyard," Harry answered. _'Urgh, this was way too much water,' _he thought as he tried to squeeze some liquid out of his Kokiri tunic.

"Uh, yeah maybe, but you know what? It's full of guards," Link said with faked enthusiasm.

Harry groaned, _'Great!'_

Of course it turned out that the guards in the courtyard were just as blind as the once outside the castle. This meant that all it took to sneak past them was a bit of patience.

…

Around midday the boys, and fairy, were walking into a small garden. Flowers grew in neat patterns, yellow, red, pink, and purple. They strolled forward hand in hand. On the opposite side of the garden by a big arched window, stood a girl dressed in a white and pink. She didn't seem to have noticed them yet. When they were standing just a few feet away from her Link said, "Hello."

The girl turned around startled. "What? Who?! Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" she asked and then she noticed Navi. "Oh? What is that? Is that… A fairy?! Then, are you… Are you from the forest?" she continued rapidly not giving either boy a chance to answer her.

"Yes, we are from the forest," Link finally managed to get in.

"Then, then… you wouldn't happen to have… the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you? That green and shining stone. Do you have it?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes we have it … right here in fact," Link asked quickly not wanting to let the hopeful girl down.

She laughed and said, "Just as I thought!"

"Huh," Link said.

She smiled and explained that she had a dream, and in the dream there were dark storm clouds billowing over the land of Hyrule. Suddenly, however, a ray of light had shot out of the forest, parted the clouds and lit up the ground. The light had turned into a figure, holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy. "I knew this was a prophecy that someone would come from the forest," she finished explaining.

_'__Oh great a prophecy, yay,'_ Harry thought. He was quite sceptical to the concept that Link would somehow be foretold to save Hyrule.

The girl wasn't done yet though. "Yes, I thought you might be the one," she said and smiled at Link before she realised something. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. "I got carried away with my story and didn't even properly introduce myself!" She seemed a bit shocked at her own lack of manners. "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule," she introduced herself.

"It's an honour to meet you Princess Zelda. I am Link and this is Harry, we are children from the Kokiri Forest," Link responded respectfully.

"Link…" Zelda looked thoughtful. "Strange it sounds somehow familiar," she said. Harry raised an eyebrow and Link just looked confused for a moment before Zelda continued, "O.K. then, Link. I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please don't tell anyone about this," she begged of them.

"Oh, O.K. we won't," Link said. He looked over at Harry, who rolled his eyes.

The raven thought that the princess was a bit naïve. It wasn't all that smart to tell family secrets to people you had only just met. He wouldn't complain out loud though. No Harry was smarter than that. He tilted his head to the side and listened to the blond girl.

Zelda told them of the three goddesses, who had hidden the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule. "In order to protect the Triforce from evil ones the ancient Sages built the Temple of Time which is the only entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from this world. However, the entrance was sealed using a stone wall called the Door of Time. In order to open this door, it is said that one needs to collect three Spiritual Stones," she told them.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous I mean collecting tree stones doesn't sound so hard," Harry said but Zelda didn't seem to hear him.

"You need one more thing though. You need the treasure which the Royal Family keeps along with this legend...the Ocarina of Time," she finished.

Link hid a yawn. The story wasn't boring per se but it was long.

Harry walked up to the blond snuggling up against him.

Link smiled and wrapped an arm around the smaller boy resting his head on top of the messy raven locks.

Harry sighed contently.

Zelda's attention seemed to be wandering. She was looking at nothing in particular for moment. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I was spying through this window just now. The other element from my dream, the dark clouds, I believe they symbolise that man in there," she said suddenly waving her hand in the direction of the window.

Link let go of Harry and moved forward to take a look.

On the other side of the glass there was a huge room with a rich carpet on the floor. A man with olive skin and red hair was kneeling down in there in front of what looked like a chair of some sort but Link couldn't see that properly. The man actually looked kind of cool in his black leather clothes with golden studs.

"That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudo. They hail from the desert far to the west," Zelda told him. "Though he swears allegiance to my father, I am sure he is not sincere. The dark clouds just have to symbolise him," she continued convinced.

Then the man turned his head and looked at Link with piercing yellow eyes. The blond took a few steps back in surprise. Those eyes seemed to look straight through him.

"What happened? Did he see you?" Zelda asked him.

"Yeah, I guess," Link answered his skin crawled, and he couldn't keep from shuddering.

"Don't worry. He doesn't have any idea what we're planning… yet!" the Princess said.

"So," Harry stepped forward, "have you told someone else about your dream? I mean like someone grown-up," he asked as he grabbed Link's hand. The princes heard him this time but she didn't really register who had spoken.

"Yes," Zelda answered with a sigh. "I told my father about my dream. However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy" she lowered her head. "But I can sense that man's evil intentions! What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it!" she bit her lip. "And, he wants to conquer Hyrule… No, the entire world!" she lifted her head and turned towards Link. "Link… Now we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule! Will you help me," she looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Eh, O.K. I guess, yeah," Link answered.

"Thank you!" Zelda exclaimed.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I… I am afraid… I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you have come. We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! He shall not have it! You must go and find the other two Spiritual Stones! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does… and then defeat him!" she said and Link smiled at her nodding.

Harry sighed. He felt like giving himself a face-palm. _'Link just can't say no to a pretty girl in need can he,' _he thought as his blond friend turned away from Zelda.

They waved their goodbye to the Princess and walked over to the garden exit. There was a woman, with white hair and red eyes, standing there.

They stepped up to her nervously. She turned her piercing red gaze to Link. "I am Impa of the Sheikah. I am responsible for protecting Princess Zelda. I would like to say that everything is exactly as the Princess foretold, however" she said and turned towards Harry. "You were not mentioned by the Princess, who are you?" she asked.

Harry looked up at her and answered, "I'm Harry Potter," he looked at Link. "I'm Link's friend and I… I believe that I come from another realm," he looked back up at Impa. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Another realm," she said.

Harry nodded. "Where I come from things are very different from what they are like here," he said.

Impa looked like she was deep in thought for a moment before she asked, "This realm that you are from what is it called?"

"England ma'am," Harry answered and Impa nodded.

"I will remember that," she said before addressing the both of them. "You are courageous boys… You are heading out on a big, new adventure aren't you?"

Both boys nodded.

"My role in the princess's dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest. It's an ancient melody which has been passed down by the Royal Family. I have played this song for Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby…" she said and then she started playing a song on a small clay flute.

Link listened for a while as he searched for his ocarina and soon beautiful notes came pouring from the instrument as he played the song Impa taught him.

As the tones died down, Impa spoke to them, "If the castle soldiers find you, there will be trouble. Let me lead you out of the castle," she said before leading them to a shortcut which took them right out to the Hyrule Field. She turned to them and said, "You two brave lads… we must protect this beautiful land of Hyrule!"

The boys looked at each other with equally determined expressions. They turned back to look at Impa.

"See that mountain over there," she said and pointed towards a huge mountain. "That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire. My village Kakariko lies at the foot of that mountain. That is where I was born and raised. It would be beneficial to you to talk to some of the villagers there before heading up to meet the Gorons."

"Thank you for your help Impa," Harry said with a small bow.

She smiled and turned to Link. "Remember that the song I just taught you have some mysterious power normally only members of the Royal Family are allowed to learn it. Returned to the castle shortly with the stones," she said before throwing a Deku nut, disappearing in the flash.

"Well that was weird," Harry said.

"Yeah and did you notice how Zelda more or less ignored you. It's like they can't see you unless I introduce you or you say something," Link wasn't the least bit amused. He didn't like people ignoring his friend.

Harry smiled and said, "Didn't she seem a bit paranoid to you Link, I mean 'he wants to conquer Hyrule, no the entire world' it's a bit dramatic don't you think?"

"Well yeah it might be a bit over exaggerated," Link said. "He seemed kind of cool you know, Ganondorf, a bit scary, but cool."

Navi appeared from her hiding place in Link's cap and asked them, "What would Saria say if we told her we're going to save Hyrule?"

"Hmm, I think she'd laugh at us really," Harry answered, and Link snorted while looking for the sun "You know we could make it to Kakariko before sunset if we hurry," he said.

* * *

><p>AN: Please review.

Wow that feels weird to ask - being an Aspie and all. :)


	4. To Hungry Rocks

**To Hungry Rocks…**

.

I do not own either The Legend of Zelda or Harry Potter. They are owned by Nintendo and J.K. Rowling.

* * *

><p>As the sun set, two boys were making their way up the stairs to Kakariko Village.<p>

One was honey blond and had deep blue eyes that would remind many who had seen them of the beautiful Lake Hylia. The other had black hair like the wings of a guay or raven and green eyes that while they seemed happy most of the time could show memories of extreme loneliness in their depths.

The guard at the village entrance greeted the two strange children before they made their way inside. The boys split up and Link disappeared of to talk to the villagers as Impa had suggested while Harry went looking for supplies. They would probably need to bring plenty to eat if they were going to make it up the mountain, and he doubted that there would be very much growing up there as it was called Death Mountain.

When they joined up again, the boys made their way to a house which they had been told might accommodate them for the night.

Link opened the door and they stepped in. "Hello," he said as they looked around the small house. It had a lot of beds and by the fire stove there was a woman making supper.

"Hi, boys! Is this the first time you're visiting this village?" she said as she turned around. "A great woman, Impa, opened up this village to us poor folk."

"Yes ma'am this is the first time we're here," Harry told her twirling his fingers into his green Kokiri tunic, a nervous habit of his.

"Well, make yourselves at home. The food will be ready soon," the woman said with a smile.

Harry and Link made themselves comfortable by the dinner table in the middle of the room.

"So what did you find out," Harry asked Link once they were seated.

"Well the carpenters think their boss is working them too hard," Link snickered, "and there is a house were all the residents have been cursed into skulltulas."

Harry shuddered. He did not want to be turned into a skulltula.

"Then I helped a lady who had lost all her cuccos, and she gave me an empty bottle," he said while placing the bottle on the table.

"That can come in handy," Harry said and picked the bottle up before dropping it into his backpack for safekeeping.

"Mmmh, then I went to the graveyard… Oh thank you very much," Link said as the nice woman placed a bowl of stew in front of him.

Harry gave his own thanks as a bowl was placed down before him as well.

"Eat up now boys you look like you need it," the woman told them.

They started eating the musty stew filling their stomachs. During the meal the only sounds that could be heard were the woman's soft humming and the clinking of the boys' spoons.

…

After the meal, Harry and Link moved from the table to a bed the nice woman had made available to them.

Harry looked up at the taller boy. "So, you went to the graveyard, why?" he asked.

"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time," Link answered. "I found the notes to another song for the ocarina in one of the tombs."

"Tomb! You entered a tomb!" Harry exclaimed shocked.

"Yeah, I found the symbol of the Royal Family, and I played the song Impa taught me and all of a sudden one of the tombstones sort of exploded," Link said sheepishly.

"And it revealed a hole you just had to climb down, did it not?" Harry rolled his eyes. _'Goddesses Link is so stupid sometimes'_ he thought.

"Yeah," Link said looking apologetic, "it wasn't too bad just some bats… and well some ReDeads but I didn't have to fight those," he hurried to explain as Harry glared at him.

"Just some ReDeads. That's just great what, on earth, is a Redead?" the raven asked disapprovingly.

"Oh, they are weird human looking monsters, and Navi said that their gaze will paralyze you momentarily, but I didn't let them see me. And the song I found was the Sun's Song; it freezes them so it was fine really," Link tried to sound convincing but it was futile. Harry was looking at him in a way that suggested he better just stop talking and apologise. He decided it was best not to tell the raven about the weird green stuff that had been all over big parts of the floor in the tomb.

"It's good that you found another song but you could have died. You had no idea what was down there," Harry said the worry for his blond friend obvious in his voice. He looked up at Link. "Please don't go without me next time O.K." he begged.

Link sighed; Harry was right it had been kind of stupid,_ 'and scary really it would have been nice to have company down there,' _Link thought and then he said, "I promise Harry I won't go without you next time. Especially down into creepy tombs," his voice was half-joking.

Harry reached up and smacked him on the shoulder. "Stupid," he said, but at least he was smiling now.

They settled down for rest and were soon fast asleep in the warm bed.

They curled around each other in their sleep, arms and legs tangled together.

* * *

><p>The next morning they went up early, said their goodbyes to the nice lady and walked up the path which led to the Death Mountain entrance.<p>

The air was clear and the sun bright.

The guard at the gate informed them that the road was closed. That didn't stop them for long, Link pulled out a letter written by Princess Zelda and gave it to the guard. It sent the man into a fit of laughter but he did open the gate saying, "Just be careful Mr Hero!" followed by more laughter. "Oh, by the way, Mr Hero … If you are going up the mountain you might what a sturdier shield…"

"We have one," Link said proudly pointing at the shield that Harry was carrying around under his backpack.

"Ah, I see. In that case I'd like to ask a favour of you. Have you been to the Happy Mask Shop that just opened in Hyrule Castle Town Market? Everyone is talking about it." The guard looked off into the distance. "My little boy pesters me for a popular mask, but I don't have time to go there… So, if you could get that for me I'd be very grateful. I mean this is my job… and" the guard sighed.

"Well remember it, but we can't promise anything O.K." Harry said before the two said goodbye to the guard.

They had walked up the dirty gravel road for quite some time when suddenly a big orange four-legged spider-like creature jumped out from nowhere.

Link quickly drew his sword. He slashed at the creature before raising his shield in defence as it jumped at them. It bounced of the shield and Link made a wide slash which cut off its front legs. The monster turned into green smoke and disappeared with the wind.

"What was that," Harry asked still recovering from the shock of the attack.

"I don't know," Link answered he looked at Navi. "Do you know what that was Navi?" he asked the fairy.

"Mmh, oh, yes it was a Red Tektite," she told them.

"A red Tektite," Link said. "Does that mean that they come in more than one colour?" he wondered out loud.

Harry shrugged and looked up the path. He could see more Tektites up there.

"Here Harry take the slingshot that way you won't be unarmed if we are attacked again," Link said and handed the weapon over to the smaller boy.

The raven accepted the weapon and seed bag with a smile. "Thanks," he said.

The path got steeper. Several Tektites attacked them as they went but now that both boys were armed they presented little problem.

"Dodongo's Cavern," Harry read from a sign.

"Don't enter without permission!" Link continued with a raised eyebrow.

"What in the Lost Woods do they mean by enter," Link wondered as he looked around.

There was a strange stone laying a couple of feet away from them. Normally to curious for his own good Link walked towards it, but as he came closer the stone moved. He jumped back. Before him stood a big stone creature with muscular arms, a round body and no neck to speak off. Its skin was brown and the round eyes were purple. "Eh, hi," he said. "Uh, what are you?" he asked the creature.

"I am one of the Gorons, the stone-eating people who live on Death Mountain," the Goron answered. Then he turned, "Look at that big boulder over there! It blocks the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern, which was once a very important place for us Gorons…But one day many Dodongos suddenly appeared inside the cavern. It became a very dangerous place! On top of that, a Gerudo in black armour used magic to seal the entrance with that boulder!" the Goron told them.

They looked at each other both deep in thought not realising that the Goron was talking once more. "…City is just a little way up the trail. It won't take much longer to get there, even on foot," he said.

They thanked the Goron for the information and started walking again.

Up a switchback, they went until the trail led out on a plateau with a red pennant billowing in the wind.

There was another Goron laying there looking very much like a big boulder. The boys spoke to him, and he told them of a rumour which told of a beautiful fairy living on top of Death Mountain.

Contemplating whether they should go up there and see her or not, the two boys kept going. They went down a small path between the mountain wall and a deep canyon.

_'__Don't fall down, don't fall down, don't fall…'_ Harry repeated the mantra in his head as he squeezed his friend's hand.

Link stopped, pulling the smaller boy closer to him. _'What is that sound?'_ he wondered.

Something was bouncing along the path. The sound coming closer, when suddenly a Goron came rolling past them almost hitting Harry.

Link tugged his friend to the side and the raven stumbled and fell. "Are you O.K. Harry," the blond asked anxiously as he helped Harry back on his feet.

"I'm fine just a bit bruised," Harry answered.

Link wrapped his arms around his raven friend. "Insane Goron could have killed us," he muttered into the messy locks.

After a while Harry softly said "It's O.K. Link we can keep going now."

Link nodded and let go of the raven, but he took a firm grip on his friend's hand as they started walking again.

The area they walked into was a half cave. The mountain stretched out above them but it was still to open for a real cave. The centre of the rather large space there was a stone tablet with a ring of small rocks on top of it. To their left there was an opening which lead to, what they assumed was, a lookout spot with some sort of weird flower growing next to a curled up Goron.

The boys, however, strode on straight ahead in to the cave which lay there. The sign outside had told them that this was the Goron City, Home of the Gorons and the cave was gigantic.

They had been walking all day and both boys felt the need to rest for a moment.

Harry looked around. The cave was split up in levels. He sat down with his legs dangling from the top most level. On the level below him there was a huge Goron rolling around in a circle and on the bottom level was a gigantic urn.

Not too far away from them there was another Goron. He was mumbling to himself, "Oh…I'm so hungry."

Link walked over to him leaving his raven friend behind. "Why are you hungry? Aren't they letting you eat?" he asked.

The Goron looked at Link rubbing his belly. "Everyone feels faint from hunger because of the food shortage in this town. We are in danger of extinction!" the Goron explained.

"Oh, how come," Link asked concerned.

"It's all because we can't enter our quarry, Dodongo's Cavern. We Gorons live on a diet of rocks…and the most delicious and nutritious rocks around are found in the cavern, but we can't get to them anymore. We've become such gourmets that we can't stand to eat rocks from anywhere else," the Goron sighed "I want to eat the top-sirloin rocks from Dodongo's Cavern!" he almost whined.

Link rolled his eyes. _'Big baby' _he thought before he went back to Harry and sat down accepting the fruit that the raven passed to him.

"Looks like the spiritual stone might have been right there," Harry said and pointed to the middle of the room were a small island was suspended in the air hanging from thick ropes. The island had a strange foot print mark on it. The reason he believed the stone to have rested there was that the platform seemed to serve no actual propose.

Link nodded. "You are probably right," he said.

After they finished eating, they decided to go exploring. They went left first down a set of stairs leading to a room filled with a warm red liquid. The path went no further that way so it wasn't all that interesting.

They went back upstairs, and walked over to the right side of the entrance. The path split after the first set of stairs. One went up and the other down. The sound of rocks crashing together had them go down. Neither boy wanted to walk around the level were the big Goron rolled around.

As they walked down the next set of stairs, they came to a landing with one of those strange flowers growing on it. The flower was round and dark green almost black with yellow and red stamen and green leaves.

_'__Hmm, this is weird,'_ Harry thought. He touched the flower. It was smooth and strangely warm. He would have liked to stay and study it but Link was restlessly shifting from one foot to the other next to him. The raven smiled, and chuckled softly as he stood back up. He followed the blond down the next set of stairs.

They emerged from the stair system on the third level of the city. The walls were painted with dancing Gorons and Link couldn't keep from giggling. _'They look so stupid,'_ he thought.

Harry just rolled his eyes. _'Link can be so childish at times.'_

They moved past the first opening which was marked with red lines just like the opening they had come through and walked up to a lone Goron lying in front of another opening. They asked him about the spiritual stone and he told them that Darunia the leader of the Gorons, whom they seemed to be calling Big Bother, had taken it with him. Then the Goron told Link, "I want you to bring fire from Big Bother's room back here."

Link looked over at Harry who shrugged _'why not.'_ As they seemed to be of the same mind, the blond went down to the lowest level of the city. He passed a door, which had those strange flowers growing on the wall on either side of it, up to what had to be Darunia's room. He looked at the big stone door for a moment; it had red markings which looked sort of like a paw print only pointier. It looked a lot like the symbol Harry had pointed out just after they entered the city. He looked at the door. _'How am I supposed to get in here? I can't even make the stone move a little let alone open it up,' _he thought.

_'__The song of course,' _Link thought as his hand landed on the ocarina that Saria had given him. He pulled the instrument out and started playing Zelda's Lullaby as Impa had called it. When he finished playing, the door opened to reveal a long corridor. He could see a torch burning at the end of it. He started running only to slow down as he saw a grim faced Goron standing in the room. The Goron paid him little attention as he walked up to the torch and lit one of his sticks on fire. He speedily made his way back to the stairs, lighting torches as he went. When the last torch was lit, however, the big urn in the middle of the room started spinning. It startled him and caused him to drop the stick he had been holding. He sighed, brought out another stick lit it and kept going.

Harry came walking out of the opening which the Goron seemed to be guarding with a small smile on his face when Link came back up the stairs. He watched the blond light the torches on either side of the shivering Goron. "Link," he said serenely as the blond turned to face him, "the air in here reminds me of the Lost Woods. Can you feel it?"

Link blinked at him and walked into the corridor._ 'Harry is right the air here does feel like the Lost Woods,'_ he took a deep breath. There were rocks blocking their way though. How were they supposed to get past them? He looked at the weird flowers growing by the rocks and then he realised that the stick he had used to light the torches just outside was very short; the flames were almost licking his fingers. He dropped it then he looked back up at the rocks. _'What is that weird sound,' _he wondered.

"Link get out here!" Harry's panicked scream reached the blonde's ears and without thinking he ran out to his friend.

BOOM!

Link turned around. The rocks were gone. "Wha…" he started saying…

…but Harry interrupted him, "The flowers exploded," he said and the blonde's eyes widened."You dropped the stick and it set fire to the flowers," Harry pulled Link in for a tight hug. "You could have died Link," he sobbed as tears started rolling down his face. He quickly buried it in the blonde's tunic as his grip tightened even more.

Link was shaken,_ 'I could have been blown to bits right in front of Harry,'_ he thought._ 'I could have died . . . I really need to learn to pay more attention to things,'_ he berated himself.

The two of them stood there for a long time, Harry crying into the blonde's tunic and Link stroking the ravens back soothingly. "Come on let's check if this really leads to the Lost Woods Harry," he said quietly once the smaller boy had started to calm down. "We could sleep at home tonight if it does you know."

With the prospect of a night's sleep in their shared bed, Harry detached himself from Link, and they walked through the dark tunnel.

…

It turned out that the tunnel did lead them to the Lost Woods, and the two boys quickly made their way home for a night's rest surrounded by the familiar sounds of Kokiri Forest.

Before they went to bed however, they decided that the next day would be spent visiting Saria to make good on their promise.

* * *

><p>"I wonder where she is," Link said as they left Saria's empty house the next morning.<p>

Harry shrugged.

They walked past one of their friends, who was doing backflips.

Link smiled at the boy as they passed him.

"Got no clue," Harry said.

As the boys walked towards Mido's house, one of the Kokiri girls came up to them and said, "Saria told me to tell you that she's waiting at the usual spot."

"Oh, of course," Link said running a hand through his hair.

Saria liked to sit and play her ocarina in the sacred meadow.

"Thanks for the info," the boys called as they ran off, eager to see their friend and leaving a somewhat confused girl behind.

The Lost Woods was a maze; in order to get to the Sacred Forest Meadow you had to make your way through it without getting lost.

"Right, left, right," Link muttered as they went.

"Ignore the stupid owl," Harry said.

Link groaned. "Yes please," he said and the boys bolted past the owl. "Left at the spring, straight ahead, left by the first rock and right by the second one," he continued muttering.

After that it was just a matter of making it past the Deku scrubs which turned out to be much easier now when they were armed because Harry could shoot them with the slingshot so that Link could cut them down with his sword as the scrubs ran around.

When they had eliminated the last mad scrub with its autumn coloured foliage Link said, "These are quite different from the ones I met inside the Deku Tree."

"Yeah." Harry looked at his friend with interest, "How so?" he asked.

"Well the ones inside the Deku Tree tried to run not fight when I had deflected one of their nuts at them. And then they got all 'Please forgive me, master! I'll never do it again! If you spare me, I'll teach you something cool,' which was rather useful but pretty tame in comparison to this," Link told his raven friend while touching the Deku's turf of leaves with his sword.

Harry laughed at his friend's poor imitation of a Deku before he grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag the blond up the stairs to the sacred forest meadow.

Once they entered the calm that the meadow provided, they slowed down. It was so peaceful there. The sound of Saria's ocarina allowed them to feel truly at ease for the first time since they had left Kokiri Forest. The boys strolled towards their green haired friend sitting on a small stump in the far corner of the meadow.

"Hey Saria," Link said.

Saria looked up from her ocarina with a bright smile on her face. "Hi Link, hi Harry. I've been waiting for you," she said calmly. "It's nice to see the two of you again."

"It's nice to see you too," Harry said and Link nodded feverishly.

The boys spent several hours informing their green haired friend of their adventure so far. In return Saria told them of the highlights of the life as it went on in the Kokiri Forest. It was a moment for the two boys to forget any worries they had and just be two Kokiri again.

Eventually the conversation died down and they simply sat there enjoying each other's company.

"I can feel that this place will be very important to all of us one day," Saria said unexpectedly.

"Hmm," Link said and looked around lazily. He wouldn't be surprised if Saria was right, but he didn't really feel like caring about that now.

Then the green haired girl straightened up and picked up her ocarina which she had laid down beside her as they were talking. "By playing the ocarina I can teach you to talk with the spirits in the forest. The melody will also allow us to talk to each other over great distances. Please remember to use it," she said as she started playing.

The two ocarinas soon played in harmony as Link learned the notes to another song.

Shortly after that they all decided to make their way back home in order to eat and fool around with the others for a while.

Link and Harry had decided they would make their way back to Goron City the next day so they had an entire afternoon filled with laughter and games.

* * *

><p>The Goron City felt lifeless in comparison to the forest. Harry and Link regretted leaving the green haven behind but Link was fast determined to help the Princess. They were making their way down to Darunia's room since the Goron they had met earlier had told them that their leader had the spiritual.<p>

They entered the grim Goron's room.

"Um, excuse me…" Link said.

"What the heck! Who are you?!" the leader of the Gorons burst out making both boys jump in fright. "I have been expecting a royal messenger, especially after the song of the royal family was played, not some kid. Has Darunia, the big boss of the Gorons, really lost so much status to be treated like this by his sworn bother, the king?" Darunia exclaimed. "Get out of my face!" he bellowed.

Link took a step back and then he asked, "Why, are you so angry at us?"

"Are you asking why I'm in such a bad mood right now?" Darunia inquired bitterly.

"Yes I guess we are," Link said boldly.

"Ancient creatures have infested Dodongo's Cavern! We have had a poor harvest of our special crop, bomb flowers, and starvation and hunger because of the rock shortage!" Darunia told them angrily.

They could understand why he was upset that was a lot of problems to have all at once.

"But… This is a Goron problem. We don't need any help from strangers," Darunia finished with a huff.

He didn't seem inclined to continue the conversation, and the boys had no wish to make him any angrier as he could probably crush them rather easily. They walked back out to the corridor which led to the room.

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked Link. "I mean we need the stone but he won't speak to us,"

"I don't know Harry," Link said depressed. "I guess we need a way to…" he thought for a moment before he took his ocarina out and started playing the song Saria had taught him the day before. The notes echoed through the cave and out into the city.

"Eh, Link," Harry said after a while. "Darunia is dancing,"

Link stopped playing. "What," he said before he started playing again as he walked up next to his friend.

True to Harry's word the Goron was dancing and he seemed happier which was nice and boded well for them. After a moment or two he calmed down and looked over to where the boys were standing. "Heeey! What a nice tune!" he called and Link and Harry slowly made their way up to him.

Darunia gave a pleased sigh and said, "Just like that, my depression is all gone! Something just came over me; I suddenly wanted to dance like crazy!" he smiled at them. "I am Darunia," he introduced himself. "I'm the big boss of the Gorons! Was there something you wanted?"

"Hello Darunia we are Link and Harry," Harry introduced them this time while gesturing to them respectively.

"And we have come to ask if you would be willing to give us the spiritual stone of fire," Link continued.

"What!" Darunia cried "You want the spiritual stone too? The stone which is also called the Goron's Ruby is our race's hidden treasure," he told them.

They explained why they needed the stone and that Princess Zelda had asked them to get it.

In the end Darunia said that, "If you want it so badly then why don't you destroy the monsters inside of Dodongo's Cavern and prove that you are real men?"

"Eh," Link was a bit hesitant.

"If you do that everybody will be happy again and I will give you anything you want even the spiritual stone," Darunia said with a grin.

Link looked at Harry. "What should we do Harry?" he asked quietly.

"Well we can't leave them like this can we? And we need the stone so I guess we will have to clear out Dodongo's Cavern," Harry said with a determined nod.

Link nodded as well.

They had decided; they would help the Gorons.

"In that case this," Darunia picked up a golden circle, "will come in handy," he told them and gave Link a bracelet. "With this even a little fella like you can pick a bomb flower," he said while the blond put the bracelet on.

They said their goodbyes to Darunia and proceeded to make their way out of the city.

…

Harry breathed in deeply. The sun shone brightly and it was nice to be back outside.

Link walked over to the Goron they had seen two days before at the lookout point. "What are you doing," he asked curiously.

"I'm standing here to shade this bomb flower from the sun," the Goron told them.

"What is a bomb flower exactly?" Harry asked the Goron. The strange flower had interested the raven since he'd first laid eyes on one.

"It's this plant," the Goron said and indicated to the round weird dark green flower next to him. "It's a plant that grows only on this mountain. The flower's fruit is the raw material for bombs."

"Oh, O.K.," Harry said._ 'They make bombs out of fruit interesting,'_ he thought.

"But a non-Goron amateur should never pick the bomb flowers' fruit," the Goron warned them.

Link however, wasn't listening and had already picked the bomb fruit up.

"Link," Harry shouted, "throw the damn bomb now you idiot."

Link, who had almost dropped the fruit when Harry screamed, quickly threw it over the fence. There was a large explosion and the gigantic rock blocking the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern fell to pieces.

"Well at least we can get in now," Link said sheepishly before Harry slapped him. "Ouch."

"Idiot."

The blond rubbed his arm as he walked back down to the entrance of Dodongo Cavern.

Harry followed closely behind him muttering about stupid blonds.

Walking in to Dodongo's Cavern was kind of scary. It was so dark in there.

When their eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the cave, they realised that a bomb fruit would be needed. The road before them was blocked by a rock wall.

"Can you be a bit more careful this time Link," Harry pleaded as Link picked the bomb fruit up.

The blond nodded, placed the fruit by the rock wall and ran back to where Harry was standing.

BOOM!

The warm air which streamed through from the next room hit them like a wall of bricks.

"It looks like there are many lava pits around here, so watch your step!" Navi told them as they entered the room.

It was large with a big Dodongo head on the wall opposite them. There was a big round platform in the middle of the room surrounded by lava. A lone beamos stood in the centre of the platform. The only way to get across to it was by one of three pillars which moved up and down in the lava.

"So left or right," Link asked as he moved forward.

"Right," Harry answered.

They jumped over to the closest pillar and made their way over the platform as the beamos looked in another direction. Over to the right pillar and from that on to a ledge were another beamos stood.

Link quickly picked up a bomb fruit and threw it at the ugly one-eyed monster. When the fruit hit it caused a dual explosion. One as Link's bomb destroyed the beamos body and one as the monsters head exploded. Then he blew open another rock wall and they went in.

Past annoying little green baby Dodongos which blew up after you hit them.

Past bared doors.

And annoying bats and two lizalfos the two boys made their way.

They were breathing heavily as they entered the next room. It was darker but best of all it was cool. The previous room had been so hot!

Harry sat down while Link mowed forward. "There are Dodongos in this room," the blond said just loud enough for the smaller boy to hear him.

"Hmm," Harry responded and pulled out a water pouch. He took a sip and then handed it over to Link as the blond made his way back.

"Thanks," Link said as he gave the pouch back. "I'll just go deal with the Dodongos then," he said flippantly.

Harry snorted and leaned back. He didn't have to wait long before the sound of multiple explosions reached his ears. _'Link is having far too much fun with bombs,'_ he thought.

"Harry come on," Link shouted after the sound had died down, "and bring a lit stick we need to light the torches to go any further."

Harry got up and removed a stick from his backpack. He lit it in the fire of a burning torch and moved up the corridor towards Link.

When he had set fire to the final torch the bars on the door Link was standing beside opened.

The door led them back to the main room of the cavern. In front of them there was a button which Link stepped on and a door across the room was unlocked.

They made their way past the centre beamos once more and entered the new room.

"That's a lot of bomb flowers," Link said.

"Mmhm, wanna bet you have to make them all go of at once," Harry looked at the big stone structure which the flowers were surrounding.

Link gave no answer. Instead he picked up a nearby bomb fruit and placed it in the gap which the growing bomb flowers had left. When the fruit exploded it set of a domino effect which caused a set of stairs to reveal themselves.

The climb up the stairs was slow work since Link was just tall enough to grab on to one of the steps and pull himself up while Harry was too short and required Link's help to get him up.

Link collapsed tiredly when they reached the top. "Can we rest now," he asked.

Harry nodded and pulled their blankets out of his pack. He gave one to Link before settling down himself. They were fast asleep within seconds.

The next day – or whatever since they couldn't tell in the cave – they made their way into a room with burning bats, and ugly stone statues. Once past that room they found themselves back in the main room but this time they were high up in the air overlooking the entire area.

Over the bridge past another burning bat and through a room with blade traps and a corridor filled with baby dodongos.

"Link watch out!" Harry screamed as he threw himself forward.

Link turned just in time to see a lizalfos swing its blade at the raven.

"Harry!" he called out. He moved forward, but it was too late. The blade was already cutting through soft flesh.

.

A scream in pain.

.

A flash of light.

.

And then everything went dark.

.

Link sat up and shook his head trying to get rid of the ringing sound in his ears. _'Where am I? What happened?'_ were thoughts which passed through his head before it hit him. "Harry," he called out again. "Harry where are you?" He stood up and looked around. On a platform to his left just by the next door the smaller boy lay.

Link jumped over and grabbed his shoulder. "Harry…please be O.K." he said tears running down his face and his voice clogging up.

The raven was pale and cold.

Link touched the boy's face. He wasn't breathing. "Harry, wake up," Link cried in to the smaller boys tunic.

"Link," Navi said. "He, he is dead Link. He can't wake up."

"No… he isn't dead. He can't be!" Link pulled Harry's body closer to him.

.

It is impossible to tell how long the blond sat there.

.

Crying into his friend's Kokiri tunic.

.

Clenching his fists.

.

Navi was hovering above them. Her blue light was adding shadows to Harry's face.

Then there was a small cough.

And another one.

The chest beneath Link's ear was trembling, but the blond didn't notice. He didn't notice when Harry's arms wrapped around him or Navi's gasp as he did so.

"Link," Harry's voice was faint. "Link why are you crying?" he asked as he patted the blonds back. Link didn't answer at first so Harry tried again. "Link hey look up," he said and lifted the blonds chin. "Why are you crying?" he asked.

Link blinked and then he rubbed his eyes. "Harry," he said shakily "HARRY!" he yelled and threw himself forward, almost crushing the smaller boy. "I, you… you weren't breathing Harry," Link was rambling "Navi…Navi said that you were dead and I… I just…" Link had started crying again burrowing his head in the crook of Harry's neck.

"I'm fine Link just a bit sore," Harry reassured the blond, "and hungry," he added.

Link let out a choked laugh, "You sure that you're O.K. I'm usually the one thinking about food you know," he said.

Harry smiled shakily and nodded. "Let's get out of here," he said while trying to get up. Unfortunately for him it is difficult to stand up when you have a 65 pound Link on top of you.

Link laughed again, steadier this time, and got up. "Here I'll help you," he said and held out a hand which Harry grabbed, the blond pulling him up on his feet.

They opened the door and Link helped Harry through it into the next room.

The boys settled down for a bit to eat and a short rest.

Harry urged them to go on not long after they had finished their food. "We won't get anywhere by sitting here," he told the blond.

Link sighed but complied with the raven. He had to help the smaller boy several times as they moved on.

…

Soon Link was humming as they went, _'I've got a bomb bag, I've got a bomb bag,'_ he thought in a singsong voice. He couldn't do it out loud because Harry would kill him. Apparently he had an unhealthy love for explosions which the raven did not approve of.

They had made it back out to the main room again. There was a bridge hanging over the dead Dodongo head, but the path did not seem to actually lead anywhere. Link looked over to the raven.

"The sign says that 'When the giant dead Dodongo sees red a new way to go will be open,'" Harry said tiredly.

"Uh, O.K…. Do you think bombs might work?" Link asked as he looked at the Dodongo.

"Yeah sure why not." Harry had sat down. He was exhausted and he didn't understand why.

Meanwhile Link was dropping bombs down into the Dodongos eyes.

BOOM!

Jump.

BOOM!

Then there was a deep rumbling followed by a scratching sound and the Dodongo's mouth opened.

"Come on Harry I'll help you back out of here and you can wait for me there," Link said as he grabbed the smaller boys arm and pulled him up on his feet.

"But Link we…" Harry tried to protest.

"No Harry you're in no condition to go on and we might as well take care of this place right away," Link shushed him.

They used the pillar lift to get back down and Link helped Harry out of the cavern.

"I really should help you back to Kakariko Village," the blond said and looked down the path.

There Harry stopped him though, "I'm perfectly capable of getting back to the village by myself," he said irritably. "You go save the Gorons and we'll meet back there after," he said waving the bigger boy off.

The blond smiled as the raven mad his way down the trail. He followed Harry with his gaze until the raven mop had disappeared.

He turned back to Dodongo's Cavern and went inside.

* * *

><p>"Harry, Harry," Link came running down from the direction of Impa's house.<p>

Harry turned around and quickly stepped out of Link's way as the blond flung himself at him.

"I got it, I got the Goron's Ruby," the blond said from his position on the ground. "The Gorons tried to hug me to death though," he pouted and Harry laughed.

"Well I'm glad I wasn't there for that," the raven said and chuckled.

"Mmmh, oh I went up to see the 'beautiful fairy' as well she taught me a new sword technique," Link said excitedly.

"Well in that case you must be hungry, right?" Harry snickered at his friend's enthusiasm.

"Yeah I'm famished. I could eat a whole cow."

"A cow?" Harry said somewhat amused.

"Uhu, I met one of those on my way to see the fairy," Link said as he picked himself of the ground.

"Oh and Darunia made me his sworn brother or something, and he said that went for you as well after I told him why you weren't there with me," Link informed Harry as they ate. "Hmm, and the fairy told me that there are more of them," he said as an afterthought. "One of them lives by the castle I wonder if I shouldn't go visit her."

"He he he," Harry chuckled. "I went to get that mask for the guard, he was really happy about it," he said.

Link finished his meal after which the boys discussed what they were going to do next.

They decided that they would stay another night with the nice lady before heading out to find the last stone.

Prior to going to sleep that night Link and Harry had a long conversation with Saria. She was concerned about Harry's health but glad that they were both alright and had the second stone.


	5. and Whiny Scales

**. . . and Whiney Scales**

Splash!

"Link I'm going to kill you," Harry shouted. The blond had just pushed him into a river not too far from the stairs leading to Kakariko Village.

Link just laughed at Harry's threat, though, and jumped into the water himself.

Splash!

The boys played around for a while, splashing each other and generally just fooling around, before they fetched their equipment from the shore and brought it across the water so they could continue their journey. They decided to follow the river since they were a bit uncertain as to where they needed to go next. As they turned a corner however, they saw the owl siting upon a pillar.

"He actually helped me to get down from the top of Death Mountain after I visited the fairy," Link told Harry as they walked up to the owl. It was sitting next to a row of boulders which they would have to blow up in order to proceed.

"Hoo hoo! Looks like you've got bigger and stronger already, Link!" the owl said and Link just rolled his eyes. "Just ahead lays Zora's Domain. The Zoras serve Hyrule's Royal Family by protecting this water source. Their door will not open for anyone except those who have some connection with the royal family. Let them hear the melody of the royal family, hoo hoo hoot," the owl finished as he took off.

"Well that was useful right," Link looked over at Harry as he spoke while bringing out a bomb to blow up the rocks with.

"Hmmm," Harry responded deep in thought as the bomb exploded. He looked up after a moment and said, "We need to get over to the other side of the river," he pointed over the water.

Link nodded. They wouldn't get much further if they didn't since the road was blocked by a high fence. He looked over at the other bank scanning it for a moment before simply jumping over. He turned around with his arms outstretched. "Come on Harry jump," he said while beaconing for the smaller boy to come over.

The raven raised an eyebrow and shook his head in annoyance before he jumped.

Link caught him when he was within reach and pulled him in to a hug.

Harry shot his friend a big smile as he detangled himself from the blond so they could continue.

"What the… shoot it Harry," Link shouted as he jumped out of the way of a rock coming towards him.

Harry, who wasted no time in helping his friend, quickly drew the slingshot and fired of a Deku seed at the octorok.

With the purple monster taken care of they kept going: jumping over cracks, dropping down from a ledge, and wading through water.

The sun was setting as they made their way up a hill. The boys were starting to tire so they decided to call it a night and get something to eat.

The next morning started out with the death of another octorok before the boys made their way over a short bridge. The path was narrow but at least there was a railing here unlike back at Death Mountain.

The water was clear and blue and it seemed to be flowing from the big waterfall which they now had in front of them. The soft spray of water felt nice on their warm skin as they jumped from one ledge to another.

"There is a symbol up here Link," Harry informed the blond loudly.

"Yeah? What does it look like?" Link asked the sound of the water flowing almost drenching the sound of his voice.

Harry looked back at the marking. "It looks like the Triforce," he answered Link's question.

Link quickly made his way over to his friend and looked down. He nodded. "Just like in front of the tomb in Kakariko Graveyard," he told the raven.

"So you need to play Zelda's lullaby then," Harry said.

Link nodded before he pulled out the ocarina and played the beautiful melody. As the last notes left the wooden flute, the big waterfall split opened to reveal an entrance.

"I guess that's the way to Zora's Domain then," the raven said before he jumped after Link into the dark tunnel.

"I would assume so," Link said. "If it isn't then I'm going to shoot that owl next time we see him," he continued with a faked serious tone.

Zora's Domain it soon turned out was a big cave, a very big cave with a lot of water in it. There were stalactites growing from the ceiling, and the water which filled most of the cave reflected up on the rock walls creating beautiful blue and grey colour shows as the water moved. The reason for the large amount of water soon became obvious as Link made his way back up out of the water.

"He or she," he looked a bit confused, "is a Zora," he pointed over his shoulder. "He, it, what on a Deku-scrubs-foliage do we called them, told me that I should try the diving game up the waterfall," Link said and started walking. They walked by a sigh which said:

Just Ahead:

King Zora's Chamber

Show the proper respect!

_'__Well wasn't that an interesting sign,'_ Harry thought as they walked up the stairs. Once up there Link made his way over to the top of the waterfall while Harry walked up to the King Zora.

"Our diving game costs 20 rupees. Do you want to play?" the Zora asked Link as he made his way to the edge of the waterfall.

"Yes please," Link said as he dug out a red stone from his wallet. He paid the Zora and was told to pick all the rupees within the time limit.

"When you have picked them all up, come back here. I'll give you something very nice!" the Zora told him before throwing several little blue stones down into the water below.

"START!"

Link jumped down after the stones. _'Blue stones in blue water what's next? Find the green stones in high grass,' _Link thought grumpily. He did manage to find them all though and as he broke through the water surface for the last time the Zora called out. "Hey! Congratulations! I've got something very nice for you! Come and get it!"

Link swam over to a ladder and made his way back up passing Harry with a wave as he went. The Zora gave him a silver scale in a blue orb that supposedly would allow him to dive deeper than before. Thinking that the dive had been kinda' fun he chose to do it again but this time as he came back up to the surface he swam over to another Zora with the intent to talk to him, it.

Then he noticed a pathway in the water beneath him. Curiosity got the better of him and he dived down and swam through.

"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have gone here without Harry," Link mumbled out loud a bit disappointed in himself. He had left the raven behind again. He looked around; he seemed to be in a lake. It was beautiful _'I have to show Harry this. It's awesome,' _he though as he turned around in wonder trying to see everything at once.

There was a small island with a single dead tree in the middle of the lake and two houses: one with a weird tower structure and the other seemed to be built-in to the canyon wall. He looked down into the clear water a couple of feet in front of him there were bubbles rising to the surface. He squinted there was something down there his guay-syndrome[1] kicked in and he dived down. It was a bottle, a bottle with a letter in it. _'I've got to show this to Harry,'_ Link thought excitedly. He dived down and went back through the tunnel.

"Harry Ha..," Link swallowed water, _'note to self don't scream while swimming,'_ he thought and coughed. Then he heard Harry; the raven was laughing at him. He swam up to the smaller boy and grabbed him.

Splash! Harry hit the water, but he was soon up again spluttering. "Link," he said dangerously.

"Mmmh," Link smiled and the raven attacked him. The wrestling match continued for what seemed like hours filling the large cave with the sounds of laughter and splashing.

After they had gotten out of the water they settled down to eat. The meal took a bit longer than expected though since a food fight was soon in full swing.

They were still giggling as they made their way up to the King Zora.

"So the King's daughter Princess Ruto has gone missing and the King is really worried about her," Harry told Link as they walked up the stairs.

"Huh, I wonder if this might tell us anything," the blond said as he pulled out the bottle containing the letter.

Harry rolled his eyes and opened the bottle, but when he pulled the paper out he realised that he couldn't actually understand what the letter said; the language was unknown to him.

"Um, excuse me King Zora but we found a letter, and we don't understand what it says. I wonder if maybe you can read it," Harry said as he showed the letter to the Zora King, who Link thought looked more like a toad then a Zora but he wisely enough didn't mention it.

"Ho," the King exclaimed, "this letter! It's from my daughter!"

Harry smiled that was good news.

"Hmmm… Let's see… She's inside Lord Jabu-Jabu? That's not possible!" the King said shocked. "Our guardian god, Lord Jabu-Jabu, would never eat my dear Ruto!" he went on. The King then muttered something about Ganondorf making Jabu-Jabu green around the gills before he said, "The evidence seems clear. Of course, you'll go find Ruto. You can pass through here to the altar of Lord Jabu-Jabu."

_'__What hey, wait a minute we haven't agreed to anything,_' Harry thought angrily.

"I'll keep this letter. You keep the bottle it was in. Take it respectfully, and please find my dear Princess Ruto immediately!" the King said before he slowly started moving to the left revealing a new pathway.

The two boys swiftly made their way up the new path.

Harry was muttering to himself as they went. Of course, he wouldn't just leave the girl in there who knows what might happen to her, but it would have been nice if the King had asked for their help rather than order them to do it.

"That is one huge fish," Link said as they walked up to a sort of altar in the Zora's Fountain.

Harry made a sound in agreement before he read the sign next to the altar:

"Zora's Fountain

Don't disturb Lord Jabu-Jabu!

–King Zora XVI"

"So the huge fish is Lord Jabu-Jabu then?" Link asked nervously.

"I would assume so," Harry said.

"Hey Lord Jabu-Jabu would you please let us in we need to go save Princess Ruto!" Link shouted but the fish didn't move a muscle.

Harry sat down and started thinking, _'How do we get in? Hmmm.'_

Link, however, was far too antsy to sit down so he went exploring.

If you went down on the right side of the fish you got to a strange loge which acted as a bridge over the watery depths beneath. When Link climbed up on top of the log he could see a lone tree standing on a piece of land.

"Aaaahh."

Splash!

He had slipped.

_'__Well now that I'm in the water I might as well swim over there,'_ he though as he started swimming.

On the piece of land with the tree there were two rocks. Unable to stop himself from causing another explosion Link strolled forward and placed one bomb at each rock, just for good measure.

BOOM! One of the rocks was no more.

BOOM! The other rock, however, was undamaged. Well the entire wall behind it had turned into crumble so at least Link knew that there was nothing wrong with his bombs. He looked into the cave _'I can always turn back and tell Harry if there is something dangerous in there,'_ he thought after a bit of a struggle with himself. He had after all promised Harry not to go places without him back in Kakariko.

It turned out he would not end up in trouble as the cave contained another Great Fairy's Fountain. The fires in this one burned green. Apart from that they were more or less the same with flowing water which sparkled and big stone altar with a pool and the sign of the royal family.

Link shuddered as he left the Great Fairy's Fountain. Those fairies gave him the creeps, but they did provide him with some really interesting stuff. He moved the crystal he'd been given around in the palm of his hand.

It turned out he would not end up in trouble as the cave contained another Great Fairy's Fountain. The fires in this one burned green. Apart from that they were more or less the same with flowing water which sparkled and big stone altar with a pool and the sign of the royal family. _'Farore's Wind wonder if there is one for each of the other goddesses to,'_ he contemplated as he made his way back to Harry.

Harry it seemed had decided that they might just as well sleep on the enigma they had been faced with. He had removed their blankets from his pack and taken out some more fruit as well.

Link sat down next to his friend and pulled his blanked around him. Then he showed Harry the magical crystal that he had received from the Great Fairy, while telling the raven about his inkling that there might be two more of them based on its name.

They fell asleep to the soft sound of waves against rocks and Link wouldn't awaken until…

…

Something was pulling at him. Nothing was touching him though, so he couldn't quite understand what was happening. Then he lifted off the ground and when he had finally untangled the blanket so that he could see again the walls around him were pink. "Were on the Deku Trees roots are we," he asked fearfully.

"Eh, well we are inside Lord Jabu-Jabu." Link heard Harry's voice coming from a few feet to his left. He turned. "We are in the fish. How did we get in here?" he had calmed down somewhat now that he knew Harry was there as well.

"Well I woke up this morning and I was kind of hungry so I grabbed a fruit to eat, and then it hit me that we might be able to get into Jabu-Jabu if we fed him," Harry explained rapidly.

Link stood there for a moment too shocked to say anything and then he burst out laughing. "And… you call…me an…idiot," he got out between peals of laughter.

"You don't own the rights to idiocy you know," Harry grumbled.

Link snorted and walked forward. He pulled out his shield and swiftly sent a rock back at an octorok while Harry pulled out his slingshot and killed the other purple monster.

Thud, thud. Harry turned around there was a big colourful bubble just a few steps away from him. It looked like a soap-bubble, the kind that kids at school sometimes had been blowing during lunch break, only bigger. He reached out towards it smiling, _'pretty,'_ he thought.

"Urgh, this is disgusting," Link said and lifted his foot out of the green slime. "What do you think it is Harry?" he asked, but as the only response he got was a pained yelp, he quickly turned around to look at the raven. "Harry what happened?" he asked as he ran up to the other boy. Harry was convulsing in pain; the fingers on his left hand were red and blistered. "Harry," Link said worriedly.

"Don't touch the bubbles," the smaller boy told his friend through clenched teeth.

Link looked up _'bubble?'_ he thought and then he saw it a big multi coloured bubble bouncing around. _'O.K. no touching bubble, got it,'_ he thought.

The blond helped his friend up and they walked through the icky green slime up to what must be a door covered in a brown slimy sort of web. They looked at it for a moment before Navi showed up and said, "You must solve the puzzle in this room to make the entrance open."

'Puzzle?' Harry looked around, _'there. Up in the ceiling, if you could call it that, there is a weird white thing.'_ He pointed it out to Link.

"You should shoot it," Link said when he saw it.

Harry did and the brown web disappeared.

When they entered the next room a pinkish jelly thing started moving towards them. "It's a biri," Navi informed them. "If you touch it, you will be electrocuted!"

Not feeling like being fried the boys quickly made their way through that room into the next. Apart from offering multiple opportunities to be fried this room also demanded that you watched your steps; something that the boys found out when Princess Ruto fell down a hole. She had informed them that she had no idea about any kind of letter and that she didn't care if her father was worried.

"Stupid princess," Link muttered.

"You know I have half a mind to just do as she said and leave you know," Harry told the blond who simply nodded.

They looked at the weird hole for a while before Link sighed, "Unfortunately we won't get the spiritual stone unless we save her," he said before jumping after the annoying Zora girl quickly followed by his raven friend.

"Are you still hanging around here? I told you to go away!" the grating voice of the Zora Princess greeted them when they landed.

"Your father told us to rescue you and we can't leave until we've done that," Link informed her again.

She looked at them for a moment before saying, "I've been going inside Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly since I was little, I'm fine. Although, Lord Jabu-Jabu is very strange today… There are electrified jellyfish and strange holes around…" she seemed to be thinking. "If you now are so worried about me I will give you the honour of carrying me! However, I won't leave until I find the thing I'm looking for," she said and sat down.

Link looked shell-shocked for a moment, _'is she serious?'_ he looked over at Harry, who was trying very hard not to laugh at Link's predicament.

"Well I guess you better pick her up so that we can find whatever it is she's looking for so we can get out of here," the raven told Link once he had manage to get himself back under control.

The journey through Jabu-Jabu's belly became interesting after that. If by interesting you mean annoying, grating, and very frustrating. Link had given Harry his sword before he picked Ruto up so that someone could defend them as they went. It wasn't until Link had thrown Ruto up on a platform so that the girl could grab the Zora's Sapphire that her constant whining stopped and both boys could finally breathe out. Their relief was short-lived, however, as the platform started moving upwards taking Ruto and the spiritual stone with it.

"What is this? An octopus!" they heard Ruto's scream coming from above.

"Shit," Link swore.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Harry asked before the platform came gliding back down carrying a rather large octopus with it.

"It's a Bigocto you should attack it from behind," Navi called.

"O.K. can you stun it Harry."

Harry cast the boomerang they had acquired earlier at the octo. It froze and Link ran to get up behind it. The octo, however, started moving before he could get there and went right at him.

"Aarrgh." Link was thrown back almost hitting the thorns of the spinning platform as he went.

"Link," Harry screamed, "are you alright," he quickly stunned the octo again before it could reach him.

"Yea I'm O.K," Link answered. "It gets some sort of green spot on its back when you stun it."

The octo was moving towards Link once more but this time Harry ran after it and stunned it before the purple beast could hurt his friend again. He could see the green spot that Link had been talking about and threw himself forward, sword in hand, and slashed at it. The monster spun again. It was coming after the smaller boy now and the raven quickly threw the boomerang at it once more.

"If you just keep throwing the boomerang at it when it's spinning maybe we don't need to run around so much," Link suggested.

Harry tried and after a few times he could slash at it with the sword again.

And again.

The Bigocto let out a puff of smoke as it died.

"Urgh, never again," Link said as they used the platform as a lift up.

Harry shook his head in amusement. "You really think it's over now huh. I mean Ruto isn't here and what are the odds that she went back out of the fish like a good girl?" he said and Link groaned. "It's your turn. I took care of the last boss you deal with this one," he whined.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I was hurt last time, remember? You wouldn't let me come with you."

Link sighed. "O.K. might as well take care of it now right away so we have it done," he said and walked past two biri on his way to the door.

"You might want your sword back before we take on the boss," Harry said as he handed the weapon over. "What on earth were you thinking when you ran away from me without a weapon earlier." Harry just couldn't understand how Link could be so foolish.

Link blushed and muttered something about evil ravens as he took the lead.

After getting a crate to open the next door they found themselves in a rather large room. Harry used his boomerang to swiftly deal with the biri in the room while Link looked around. There were wines of sorts going up both sides of a buttress and the door to the next room was locked. Link looked up. High up there one of those white buttons, which they had come across several times before, sat.

"Up there," Link told Harry.

The raven looked up and sighed as he realised he was going to have to deal with this one and then started climbing.

"Have you noticed that it doesn't smell as bad in here anymore?" Link asked as Harry was making his way up.

"That's because our senses has gotten used to the smell," Harry responded. "When we get out of here we're going to have to soak in water forever to get the stench out."

"Hn," Link didn't mind soaking that would be nice.

Once on top of the buttress Harry noticed that there was a transparent yellowish wall which he realised that he would not be able to shoot though with the Deku seeds. He grabbed his boomerang, aimed and fired. The door opened.

"You wait for me before you go in there," Harry shouted to Link before climbing back down.

Link just laughed as he waited watching the raven make his way up to him. "Ready," he asked as they stood before the final door.

"Yeah sure," Harry said nervously.

They walked up to the door and into a big circular room. The room was filled with giant jellyfish and as the boys walked forward.

The jellyfish seemed to gather at a spot in the middle of the room.

"It's Barinade many parasitic jellyfish swarm around this monster. You must aim for its body, protected by jellyfish!" Navi informed them as the body of a gigantic anemone became visible to them.

"Yuck, disgusting," Link said as he moved around the anemone.

They needed to get to the body without getting hit by the jellyfish since neither of them felt like being electrocuted.

Harry lifted his boomerang and sent it off. One of the tentacles which held the anemone up was severed.

"Great keep going that has to be good," Link shouted encouragingly when a bolt of lightning when right past his ear.

"Keep moving you moron," Harry called as he sent of the boomerang once more. As the last tentacle fell all of the jellyfish left the Barinade and started swarming around.

"Shit," Link ducked, "hit the body Harry," he called as he got up from the ground and started running.

Harry sent the boomerang of and just before Link reached the anemone's body it froze.

Link slashed at it. "Ha! Take this," he said before he had to jump back to avoid electrocution.

The anemone was moving around now with the jellyfish acting as a very lethal shield. It froze again as Harry hit it and the jellyfish seemed stunned as well this time so he opted to take a few of them out.

The action was repeated until there were no more jellyfish and he could stun the anemone for Link to slash. It settled down into the soft ground which the fish's inside provided and shot of a bolt of electricity straight at Harry.

The raven was to slow and the bolt hit him but instead of hurting the boy it changed, from yellow to green, crackled and shoot back at the anemone. The huge monster seemed incapable of handling the recoil and as its body turned blue once more. It moved up and Link was upon it once more his sword glowing and eerie orange as he slashed though the soft body of the big parasite.

It exploded in a rain of green slime.

"Harry," Link ran over to his friend, "are you O.K?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah I think so," Harry said a bit out of it still. _'What on earth had happened? What did I do?'_ He had felt the beam hit him but it hadn't hurt instead he had felt a strange rush of something he couldn't quite describe fill him. It had left his body as the beam had been shot back leaving him feeling exhausted.

"Come on Harry," Link grabbed the smaller boy and half dragged half carried him over to the circle of blue light which had appeared in the room after Barinade's defeat.

Ruto was sitting in the light waiting for them. "You… You're late! What took you so long? You're useless!" she chewed them or rather Link out as they came closer.

"Hey chill out what's the problem," Link said defensively.

"I was just lonely, that's all… Just a little!" Ruto tried to tell the blond as a small blush spread across her cheeks.

Link stepped in to the light still holding Harry up and they were transported out of Lord Jabu-Jabu.

When the light had cleared again they were standing on the bridge log as Link had decided to call it. Ruto moved up closer to him and he backed away not realising that there wouldn't be any ground where he placed his feet and he fell.

Splash!

Fortunately for Harry he had let go of Link before that happened so he was still standing up on the log.

Ruto jumped in after Link and swam up to him. "You! You looked cool," she said while moving closer to the blond. "Cooler than I thought you would, anyway… Just a little," the Zora princess was blushing again. "Well anyway, you saved me, so I guess I'll reward you," she said.

"It wasn't just me Harry fought too. He saved you as well," Link said and Ruto looked up at the raven.

"That little squirt, don't make me laugh," Ruto said and moved closer once more. "What do you wish? Just tell me…" she said.

"Well we want that blue spiritual stone," Link said uncertainly.

"You mean the spiritual stone of water, Zora's Sapphire, don't you? My mother gave it to me and said I should give it only to the man who will be my husband. You might call it a Zora engagement ring!" Ruto told Link who just looked confused but nodded none the less. "All right! I'll give you my most precious possession: Zora's Sapphire!" she said and swam of a bit before bringing it out.

The stone floated over to Link. "Thank you Ruto," he said grateful that it hadn't taken more to get the stone. He put it away and looked back up.

"Don't tell my father," Ruto told him before she swam off. Link made his way back to Harry and the two of them left Zora's Domain.

* * *

><p>After such an ordeal it was very nice to take a well-deserved rest and long bath which they both deserved and desperately needed. It was almost noon the next day before our two heroes decided to continue their journey.<p>

By the exit back to Hyrule field the two of them split up. Harry wanted to do some shopping in town and Link wanted to go see Malon at the ranch before they went to see Princess Zelda.

As the blond made his way over Hyrule field, he could see Harry entering Hyrule Castle Town. He himself still had some way to go, though. The green grass and the blue sky was a nice change from all the pink and slime and unimaginably yucky things which had existed inside Jabu-Jabu. The sun was starting to set as he reached Lon Lon Ranch. He walked past the buildings out to the paddock with a horse running around it.

The blond strolled around for a while looking at the flowers watching the horses until he noticed Malon standing in the middle of the paddock. He then made his way around to the gate and walked up to the girl; she was playing with a little brown pony with white mane. "Hi Malon," he said.

"Hello fairy boy. How did you like the castle? Did you see the princess? Hee hee!" Malon asked giggling.

"The castle was interesting the guards were stupid though. And yeah we saw the princess she was nice."

Their conversation continued for quite some time ranging from the princess to Lake Hylia to the forest where Link came from. Then as they came in on the subject of horses Malon said, "Oh yeah – I have to introduce you to my friend, fairy boy! She's this horse. Her name is Epona. Isn't she cute?" she said and the horse, Epona, ran off. "It seems like Epona is afraid of you, fairy boy," she said.

"That's a shame," Link said and sat down. He closed his eyes and breathed in the air was filled with the scents of summer, the flowers blooming, the cut grass and the ranch own special mixture of scents. Link slowly took his ocarina out and started playing along with the song Malon was singing. Epona was soon butting her head against his shoulder. "Hey girl, I'm O.K. now am I," he said and petted the pony.

"My mother composed this song. Isn't it nice?" the orangette asked Link.

He looked up at her. "It's a very nice song. It's soothing. Calm, I like it," he said and went back to playing.

"Are you staying for the night Link?" Malon asked sometime later.

"Hmmm, yeah if that's O.K." he answered.

Malon nodded. "We should get inside soon there are all kinds of annoying creatures roaming around the ranch at night," she said and the two slowly made their way back herding the horses as they went.

"Hello dad you remember Link don't you," Malon said as they walked into the house.

"Well, I'll be! If it ain't the forest kid from the other day! How are things goin'," Talon said.

"Quite well thanks," Link responded.

As the evening progressed, there was talk about what had to be done at the ranch and supper of course together with a lot of strange questions. The weirdest one, according to Link anyway, was when Talon asked if he would like to marry Malon. The girl almost hit her father up the head when he asked that but the man just laughed. Link enjoyed himself so much that he remained at the ranch to well past noon the following day before he realised that he had left Harry waiting. He said his goodbyes to Talon and Malon and the somewhat grumpy Ingo before making his way over to the castle town.

The sky was darkening and there was this uncomfortable feeling in the air. Almost like static electricity but it was sinister.

Link swallowed this was starting to both feel and look like one of his recurring nightmares. He wished Harry was there with him. He could smell the dampness in the air before the rain started falling and lightning was leaping across the sky. The drawbridge was up._ 'That isn't normal is it? It's not that late yet,' _he thought.

The sky had gone almost as dark as a moonless night. It was quiet to quiet. Soon he could hear the chains of the drawbridge moving as it opened. The galloping of a horse was coming closer and Link squinted in order to try and see who was approaching. He had to leap out of the way as a white steed ran past him. He looked up; it was Impa and Princess Zelda. The princess turned around and threw something.

It fell into the moat with a plop.

"Arrrrgh! I lost her!" A dark smooth voice said from behind Link.

The boy turned around. There upon a black stallion sat Ganondorf. He inhaled sharply. _'Oh goddesses what am I going to do now,'_ he thought.

Ganondorf turned to the small forest boy and said, "You, over there! Little kid! You must have seen the white horse gallop past just now… Which way did it go?! Answer me!" the Gerudo King demanded.

Link despite being scared shitless slowly attached his shield to his right arm and drew his sword. "I wouldn't tell you even if I did know where it was going," he said hopping that he sounded braver than he felt.

"So you think you can protect them from me… You've got guts, kid," Ganondorf said.

Link took a step forward. He knew that this man could most likely kill him within the blink of an eye but he had to do something since he had no idea where Harry was.

"Heh heh heh…" Ganondorf chuckled, "you want a piece of me?! Very funny! I like your attitude!" Ganondorf said as he held out his left hand.

A ball of yellowish energy started forming and it was soon hurting Link's eyes to look at it. He hadn't seen it coming; the light had been too bright in the unnatural darkness. It hurt. Every fibre in his body felt like it was on fire.

"Pathetic little fool! Do you realise who you are dealing with?!" Ganondorf's voice was distant as Link struggled to stay awake.

"I am Ganondorf! And soon I will rule the world…"

Link blacked out.

When he woke up again the sky and air was back to normal. It was sunset and Link had no clue if it was still the same day or if he had been unconscious for longer than that. His body still hurt and his head felt like it was full of cotton._ 'Come on Link get yourself together,' _he thought as he turned towards the drawbridge. Bits and pieces of the previous events played before his mind's eye at random until, _'The princess threw something,'_ he realised. He walked over to the moat right by the drawbridge and looked down. There was something glittering in the sunlight down there.

He jumped in. _'I'm never gonna be dry again the way things are going,'_ he thought dryly as he swam forward. He dived and as his hand touched the silver object something weird occurred.

"Link can you hear me?" Zelda's voice came out of the air around him. "Link, when you hold this ocarina in your hand I won't be around any more."

_'__O.K. this is creepy how in the Lost Woods is she speaking to me,'_ Link thought while looking around almost expecting the girl to stand by the moat's bank.

"I wanted to wait for you, but I couldn't delay any longer. At least I could leave you the ocarina and this melody…"

Link looked down the silver object he was holding. It was in fact an ocarina and then the notes of a melody came to him. He quickly got himself out of the moat so that he could play along. _'There is something strange about this song,'_ he thought as he finished playing it. It had power far beyond what he could possibly comprehend.

"Now, Link. Play this melody in front of the altar in the Temple of Time. You must protect the Triforce!" It was the last thing the spirit of Zelda's voice told him.

Link walked into town desperate to find Harry and tell the raven what had happened. But no matter where he went or who he asked the only thing people could tell him was that they hadn't seen the small green clad child since the day before.

"Hey listen!" Navi said. "Let's go check inside the Temple of Time."

Well if he could not find Harry he might as well do as the princess and now Navi wanted. He could probably go find Harry later or the raven would find him. Link walked up the steps to the temple and past the four gossiping stones. It was quiet, apart from some bird's singing in the distance. The temple was so big it made Link feel like a tiny little insect as his steps echoed though the hall. There was a stone tablet on the floor which looked an awful lot like the one in the Sacred Forest Meadow only this one had a yellow medallion engraved on it rather than the green one you would find in the forest. He walked up to the altar and pulled out the ocarina. The tones of the Song of Time flowed out from the instrument and the tree spiritual stones placed themselves in their spaces on the altar as the Triforce above the blocked entry glowed golden and the stone slab beneath it moved aside. Link walked into the newly opened chamber with a feeling of awe.

"Link, isn't that…?!" Navi said and flew on ahead, "that legendary blade The Master Sword!" she continued.

The sword was really the only thing in the chamber, and as Harry had often told him 'curiosity killed the cat' whatever that meant Link was curious. Before he could stop himself or think twice he was standing in front of the legendary blade his hands on the hilt.

.

He pulled.

.

.

Blue light appeared. It spread until everything was blue.

In the distance Link could hear the whisper of a voice he felt a great discomfort hearing.

.

.

And then there was nothing.

* * *

><p>[1] Like crows I assume that guays gather a lot of things and keep them in their nests.<p> 


	6. Red Eyes and Magic?

**Red Eyes and …Magic?**

.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Legend of Zelda

* * *

><p>Harry looked back just before he entered Castle Town. In the distance he could see Link making his way across Hyrule Field towards Lon Lon Ranch. He smiled. <em>'I hope Link doesn't get up to anything stupid now,'<em> he thought as he walked over the drawbridge.

The town was just as busy now as it had been the last time the raven had been there. People were crowded together by the market stalls and the little girl was still chasing her cucco.

Harry went from stall to stall slowly. He didn't mind the wait unlike some people who were rather rude to their fellow citizens. After he had bought everything he thought they might need in the near future, the raven decided to go exploring the alleyways. He found a small shop hidden far down a dirty looking alley. _'I wonder what they have in here,'_ he thought as he opened the door. The place smelled funny and it was so dark that he could barely see anything.

"Well hello young sir. What brings you to this humble establishment?"

The oily voice of the shop-keeper sent shivers up Harry's spine. He swallowed and looked around. The dim light made it hard to see the wares. What he could see, however, made his stomach churn. There were bari tentacles, skulltula legs, Deku eyes, and keese wings in jars on the shelves. And in one of the bottles there was something which looked an awful lot like a heart only it was grey.

'Redead Heart 200 rupees' the sign said.

Harry shuddered. He wanted out and he wanted out now. He turned and was met by the rooting teeth of the shopkeeper's cold smile.

"Well young sir, aren't you going to buy something," the man said.

Harry bit his lip and closed his eyes he was scared and the shopkeeper was standing between him and the exit so he couldn't just leave. The raven flinched as a hand settled on his shoulder.

The man leaned closer and the boy could smell the stench of his breath. "Tut tut! The little one is afraid is he? Scared of master Ramone are you," the man smirked. "Little children shouldn't run around places like these unless they know what to expect," Ramone said with a malicious smile.

"Let the boy go Ramone or you'll lose something you'll surely miss," a male voice said from the door.

Ramone turned around to look at the newcomer. "Ah, master Sheikah. What brings you here?" he asked.

"Why I'm here is none of your concern Ramone now let the boy go!"

The intruder was pulling something out from behind his back slowly and Ramone hissed. He let go off Harry's shoulder reluctantly and the raven quickly made his way out the door.

The stranger followed him out, though, and once they had made their way out off the shady part of town he grabbed Harry's arm. "Come with me little Kokiri," he ordered and Harry who was much smaller than the dark clad man was dragged along whether he wanted to or not.

When they finally stopped they were standing inside a small downtrodden house.

Harry looked at his captor. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" he demanded feeling a bit braver.

"Hmm, where I come from it is customary to thank someone who just saved your life before asking questions," the man said "but then again considering the circumstances I guess I cannot blame you for wanting those particular answers." The man turned towards Harry and lowered his hood. He had light-blond hair and bright red eyes. His face bore numerous scars and his facial expression was grim. "I am Annun. I'm one of the Sheikah and Lady Impa sent me to find you little Kokiri. She wishes for you to join her," the grim-faced man informed Harry.

The raven was confused. If Impa wanted to talk to him why was he here? That question, however, was answered before he got the chance to ask it as Impa herself stepped into the room. "Hello again little realm traveller I notice that you are here alone again," she said.

"Yeah, Link went to see Malon up at Lon Lon Ranch before coming here," Harry told her. "We'll be coming up to see the Princess tomorrow most likely," his eyebrows furrowed.

"Ah, while that is good and well this conversation has little to do with you quest for her highness," Impa informed him.

"Oh," Harry said. _'What on earth does she want then?'_ he wondered.

"You have abilities. Abilities which we, the Sheikah, can help you develop young Harry. I hope that you will accept our offer to train you it is seldom given to outsiders," she said as she passed something to Annun.

"I…" Harry looked at her, "what about Link?" he asked.

Impa studied the young boy for a moment. "I understand that young Link is important to you," she said, "but the training we are willing to offer you cannot be given to him. He doesn't have what it takes to learn."

Harry bit his lip. He couldn't just leave Link it wouldn't be right. He cared too much for the blond to just leave like that. Besides Link was the only person he had ever truly trusted. "I'm sorry Lady Impa but I will have to decline. I will not leave Link all alone," he informed her.

Impa regarded him for a moment then she nodded. "I understand," she said. "In that case you may leave now."

Harry got up and headed back out into the bustling town.

As night approached he found an Inn to settle down in for the night. He was fast asleep within minutes and would not awaken until well past noon the following day.

* * *

><p>Back in the rundown house Annun gave Impa a puzzled look as she let the boy leave. "You will simply let him leave Lady Impa?" he asked surprised.<p>

"For now yes. I will simply let him go. This is not the last time we will ask this of him though. He needs to be trained," Impa said as she stood back up and headed back the way she had arrived. "For now simply keep an eye on the child Annun," she told him and the shadow warrior nodded.

He followed the small raven around town, and as Harry went to bed, he merely sat down on a nearby railing.

…

It was past midnight when he got word from Impa through a portable gossip stone. Their plans had changed; they wouldn't be able to wait for the presumed hero.

"You are to bring Harry with you and meet us by the exit from Kakariko Pass," Impa informed the blond Sheikah. "The hero will have to enter the sacred realm by himself you know what this means," the message ended.

Annun looked through the window at the sleeping boy. He knew, just like any Sheikah would that young Link could not possibly defeat the King of Evil as he was now. The boy would have to grow up, and according to legend the sacred realm would keep him there until he was old enough to do what was needed of him. It was necessary for the child's safety.

The raven had to travel with them. He would be needed for young Zelda's protection as time passed. Annun jumped down; silently he made his way through the Inn and up the stairs into Harry's room. He carefully placed a hand on the small boy's forehead, mumbled something, and then he lifted the child up.

Like a shadow the man moved through town down to where he had tied his horse when he had arrived there. He placed the child in the saddle and sat up.

No one saw them as they left the town. The horse moved like a shadow across the field not even alarming the stalchildren.

Annun brought them down the winding path of Kakariko Pass, a road which only the handful of still existing Sheikah knew about. By the time little Harry was stirring the next day they had already reached the rendezvous point.

* * *

><p>Harry felt stiff and uncomfortable as he woke up the following day. It was bright, he realised too bright for his room at the Inn. He opened his eyes. <em>'Where am I?'<em> he wondered and looked around.

There was a fire set up not too far away from him and beyond that the grass rolled over soft hills. The grass turned into gravel eventually the rocky ground led up to mountains. As he turned the other way he could see the outlines of a forest in the distance.

He looked back into the fire and sighed. He had no clue where he was or how he had gotten here.

"I see you have finally awoken young realm traveller."

Harry turned his head.

Annun was standing just a few feet away holding a water sack in one hand and a dead rabbit in the other. The Sheikah sat down and started skinning the rabbit.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man. "I thought I told Impa that I didn't want training," he said.

"Mmh, that may be so but Lady Impa's orders were to bring you here and so here you are. If it's any comfort to you your friend will not be missing you," Annun told the raven calmly.

"What are you people planning on doing to Link," Harry had stood up.

Annun looked over at the child his eyes widening at what he saw. The boy was glowing with power emerald eyes so full of hatred that it sent shivers up his spine. Very little could actually scare the Sheikah warrior but this amount of power in the hands of a child who didn't even realise he had it was terrifying. "Your friend will not be harmed," he said trying to calm the angry child down. "He will simply enter a spelled sleep. You will not be able to meet with him for several years once he has entered the Sacred Realm."

Harry was still angry but he was getting it back under control. The glow dimmed and he sat back down leaning his head against his hands. "Link will be O.K?" he asked quietly after a while.

"Yes he will be fine provided that he does what the princess asks of him," Annun answered.

Harry still wasn't happy but he couldn't really do that much about it since he didn't have a clue as to where they were.

…

When Impa and Zelda arrived, it was after nightfall and their poor horse looked exhausted.

"Lady Impa, your highness," Annun greeted them. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes we're fine," Impa answered. "It was a close call but we made it out as you can see. The hero has the ocarina so hopefully everything will work out."

"Did you see Link? Was he O.K?" Harry asked timidly.

"Your friend seemed fine little realm traveller," Impa told him.

The conversation between the two Sheikah continued for some time.

Harry, however, just tuned them out. He did not like being here without Link. Deep in thought, the raven didn't notice himself falling asleep.

…

The next morning the party set out.

Not that Harry knew where they were going but at this point it didn't really matter. If the grown-ups were telling him the truth it would be years until he could meet Link once more. He sighed. The ride was tedious and boring without his blond friend and Zelda didn't make a very good travelling partner. She was way too stuck-up. You wouldn't believe it from their first meeting but she could be really whiny, almost as bad as Ruto.

The food was never good enough and sleeping arrangements were appalling. The list went on.

When asked, the Sheikah informed Harry that the ride would take several weeks and the weather was likely to get worse as they went.

They were right of course.

Two weeks after they first set out it was hailing and not small innocent little deku baba seed sized hail either. Some of the hails were the size of Harry's closed fist so they had to take shelter in order not to get killed by the storm.

Once the weather cleared up, they set out again. They rode on in the same mind numbing fashion as before until… half way through the day when Annun handed Harry the reigns before pulling out what looked like throwing knives. "This area can be very dangerous," he told the boy. "Please try to keep the horse on track."

Harry nodded and took a firm hold of the leather strips.

Fortunately they did not encounter any monsters that day. The day after, however, they galloped through a ravine filed with bombchus and not long after that Harry got to see a redead for the first time. "That's a redead?" he asked Annun as the Sheikah made his way back to the horse.

Annun nodded. "It's a redead knight. They are slightly tougher than the normal redead because the sword they carry give them a much wider range of attack, the regular ones has to get up close to their victims in order to bring them any harm," he told Harry.

The raven nodded. _'It made sense,'_ he thought.

"We will teach you techniques that will help you resist the effect of their gaze among other things," Annun said.

As they reached Impa, she said, "That's where we are heading." She was pointing towards a small village surrounded by cliffs.

They would have to get down there somehow.

Harry looked around there seemed to be a switchback path going along the mountainside down to the village.

Atallieru

Home of the Forgotten

Keep a watch out for wolfos!

The sing above the village entrance read.

The village was small. The houses were made of grey stone and there was almost no plant life to be seen.

Harry shuddered. He didn't like it. It was too barren no colour or life.

"This is where we will train you," Impa told the children. "It is well hidden. Only Sheikah can find their way here."

They dismounted the horses and Impa moved up to one of the houses while Annun took the two steeds down the road and disappeared behind a corner.

Impa knocked.

The door opened revealing an older man with a short cut white beard, no hair and a missing left eye. The man, it turned out, was the village elder and he and Impa spent a long time talking back and forth in a language Harry couldn't quite understand.

Then Impa turned to him and Zelda. "This is princess Zelda heiress to the throne of Hyrule," she motioned towards the girl, "and this is Harry, he is the realm traveller I informed you about."

The elder studied the two children before him for a moment. "These ones will be a challenge to teach anything Lady Impa," he informed the female Sheikah.

The female Sheikah nodded.

A while later, a woman appeared; she had honey blond hair and the trademark Sheikah red eyes. She was carrying a dish which she placed on the table in front of the elder Sheikah. "Dinner, father. Don't let it get cold," she said before she headed back out again.

…

After they had eaten, Impa told the children to go explore the village for a while. "Just don't leave it."

Harry walked out after Zelda and quickly turned to get away from the girl. He wandered around thinking about the rather strange situation which he now found himself in.

When the raven was brought out of his musings it was dusk and he could hear raised voices coming from somewhere to his right. As he passed a corner, he could see princess Zelda arguing with a boy roughly the same size as Link with golden blond hair and the red eyes of the Sheikah. He walked closer. It seemed like the princess was trying to convince the blond boy that she had a right to do something or another.

"…of course I can I am a princess. How dare you tell me what to do!" Zelda was saying.

The blond kid merely huffed and said, "It doesn't matter who you are. No one goes in there." He seemed to be getting tired of repeating himself by this point.

Zelda, however, didn't notice or didn't care.

Harry sighed and stepped forward. He cut the princess off before she could start again. "I'm assuming that there is a good reason for why no one is supposed to go in there then," he said.

The blond boy turned his head, and his cold red eyes seemed to be determining whether or not he should answer the newcomer when…

"The Shrine of Rituals is closed to everyone unless a ritual is supposed to take place. Then and only then may the participants of the ritual enter the shrine."

The children turned around to see Annun standing there, eyes unseeing as if he was remembering something.

_'__Well that makes sense,'_ Harry thought. He didn't understand why Zelda had been so persistent unless the Sheikah kid hadn't told her this of course.

"Maybe one day you will be granted the honour of entering this sacred place," Annun said and looked down at them while the Sheikah child snorted. "It is time for you to rest. Zelda you should get back to Lady Impa," the shadow warrior told the girl before tuning to Harry. "You will come with me little realm traveller," he told the raven.

They walked down the street and into one of the small houses. "I will wake you in the morning and you will start your training," Annun informed Harry before he left the raven alone in the house.

…

Sleep didn't come easy for Harry that night. He tossed and turned for what seemed like hours before he finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>True to his word Annun did wake Harry up the next morning.<p>

The raven sat up groggily and got over to the small table to eat the meagre meal there. Then the Sheikah led him out off the house.

Harry yawned.

He'd been having nightmares and was still really tired.

"You will follow our moves to the best of your ability young ones we will know if you don't. You are not here to relax you are here to learn and to better yourself," the elder told them before he moved to touch his toes.

"Do as Master Kenteishu," Annun told them.

Harry looked at the bald man and then he tried to copy his move. _'It is harder than it looks,'_ he thought as he tried to successfully complete what they called the tree pose. He didn't manage and as he stumble slightly he could hear a snicker coming from behind him. He looked around. The blond boy was standing in a perfect tree pose behind him with a blank mask on his face. The raven took a deep breath and turned back to look at Master Kenteishu. He would need all of the patience he had accumulated while living with the Dursleys now. He could tell.

Once they were done with the meditative exercises, they were told to run a track around the village.

When Zelda asked how far Master Kenteishu's answer was, "as far as you can."

…

The raven was exhausted and it was just about midday. They were going to start fighting theory that afternoon and he had no idea how he would stay awake through it. They ate a nutritious lunch before they gathered in the dojo for the next lesson.

"Your training this morning will help you in this lesson. A calm and disciplined mind will have a much easier time defeating an opponent then a chaotic one will," Impa told them before she started describing different tactics their advantages and disadvantages.

…

"… but then you have to remember that creating your own style is probably better than relying on a set tactic," Impa finished.

Harry shook himself awake. He bit his lip; he'd fallen asleep as Impa had been talking. The others stood up and the raven quickly followed.

Annun was walking up to him. "Now would you like to inform me why you fell asleep child?" he asked quietly while looking rather disappointedly at Harry.

"I didn't sleep well last night sir," Harry answered. "I was having nightmares."

Annun studied the boy; there was no deceit in those words and he could not fault a child for having bad dreams. "Hopefully that will not happen again," he said. "We will not repeat ourselves and any information missed you are simply going to have to pick up as we go," he informed the raven. He then proceeded to show Harry a few simple fighting stances and moves.

As Harry went to bed that night, he had a hard time believing that he wouldn't fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He was right.

* * *

><p>The following months passed much in the same manner. They got up, practised meditation, ran, had lunch, trained fighting in the dojo, ate supper and went to bed.<p>

Sheik, which was the blond boy's name, was one of the most annoying brats Harry had ever had the displeasure of meeting. Both he and the ever holier-than-thou princess were slowly shortening his fuse. If it wasn't Sheik laughing at him or sneering then Zelda was wining about something or another. That or she tried to lord her title over them.

The training in itself was hard but not impossible. Sometimes, however, it felt like his teachers were waiting for something to happen. Like, he wasn't living up to their expectations of him. It was frustrating.

They had started to actually fight each other a few days ago.

Harry easily won over Zelda, but Sheik was another story entirely. Whenever the blond won he would act in a way that was slowly driving the raven mad. He would gloat and mock the smaller boy something awful. Even more frustrating was the fact that none of the grown-ups was doing anything to stop it when it happened to him. When Sheik bullied Zelda, he would be stopped almost immediately by one of the older Sheikah. The raven hated that the grown-ups allowed for him to be bullied. He was used to bullying and adults had never helped him before so why would they now?

Finally his patience had run out. Harry had endured enough. He was angry and he wasn't going to just let it slide this time.

The rain was pouring down from the sky. It had turned the ground they had been fighting on into to mud.

Zelda had taken cover on a porch almost an hour or so earlier, and she was watching the two boys fight.

What had started as a strategic battle had now turned into mud wrestling. Sheik had just pushed Harry down on the ground. He was holding he raven down which prevented the smaller boy from getting any air because of the many puddles filled with muddy water. "They really think you will ever be able to learn the true way of the Sheikah," he said.

Harry gathered what strength he had left and pushed the blond off him.

"It's insane you're just a little wimp who thinks he is something because he's the Hero's best friend," Sheik said. "What use will the Hero have of a kid with no skills huh? You'd get the both of you killed your little…" he fell silent.

Harry had stood up during the blonde's rant and was currently glowing and eerie jade colour. "I've had enough of you," he hissed at Sheik and the water surrounding him visibly started freezing. "You just go on about how I will never be anything. You even go so far as to assume that you can speak for Link. I've had enough."

The rain was freezing as it fell now. Small sharp prisms were tearing shallow gashes down everyone's faces. Then the ice prisms seemed to stop mid-air and gather there before an entire cloud of sharp ice bolted towards Sheik.

Annun and Impa ran forward and manage to get the child out of the way at the last second.

Instead of just continuing and hitting the ground where the blond had been standing, the ice cloud stopped. It hovered for a moment before setting off after Sheik once more.

Annun who was holding the young Sheikah ran.

The cloud would not let him outrun it though. He tightened his hold on the terrified boy and…

Nothing happened.

Annun turned around.

Over by the training field, Galena was standing with the unconscious raven in her arms looking murderous. "I told you this was a bad idea father. He could have killed the lot of you with that ice," she said angrily. She held the little raven closer. "The poor boy doesn't even know what he is doing and instead of telling him and getting him to consciously handle the power you decided that it would be a good idea to force it out of him," she said as she started walking back towards the houses. The small child in her arms was freezing cold. His lips had even turned blue by the time she had forced him to fall asleep. Muttering about stupid fathers and idiotic warriors, she tucked Harry in under several thick warm wolfos furs.

"Excuse me ma'am."

Galena turned around.

Little Sheik was standing in the doorway. "Could I stay with him?" the blond asked.

"Yes you can stay," she said, "as long as you promise to apologise and explain that it wasn't your idea," she told Sheik as she left the room.

Sheik, who was still trembling from fright, sat down next to the raven. He had been so happy at first when he'd heard that other children would join them in the village. Then he'd met Zelda. The girl was so frustrating; she thought that at least half the rules if even those didn't apply to her. It drove him mad.

Harry, though, the raven was intelligent and quiet. He had a rather naïve outlook on life most of the time, but there were these moments when it was obvious that the green-eyed boy understood far more than he showed. Sheik would have liked to make friends with the raven.

Then the elder had summoned Sheik and given him his very first mission. That the mission involved being mean to the raven didn't matter to him. He had received a mission. It hadn't been easy, though. At times the smaller boy didn't even seem to register what he was doing. It was almost like the small boy had received treatment similar to what the blond did before at some point.

And then Sheik had found the raven's sore spot. The so called Hero of Time. He had pushed as hard as he could.

He never imagined that someone so small could be so destructive. _'Galena was right we could have died out there today, killed by a stupid experiment. And what about Harry would he have woken up to find them all dead,'_ Sheik looked down at his hands.

A soft moan came from the bed next to him and the small Sheikah straightened up. He looked over at the covers were big bright green eyes studied him from behind black unruly locks. Sheik was nervous he had never needed to apologise like this to someone before. "I'm sorry Harry," he mumbled afraid that the raven might get angry again.

Harry studied the blond for a moment. _'He looks really scared I wonder why,'_ he thought. Then his gaze lifted to look at the woman standing in the doorway. "What happened?" he asked her with a croak.

"You don't remember little realm traveller?" the honey-blond woman asked him.

He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. _'What had happened?'_ he thought. _'We were training and then Sheik started insulting me again and…'_ his eyes widened. What had he done? It was like the bolt of lightning all over again.

Harry looked down at his hands.

"Here drink this it will make you feel better," the woman handed him a glass.

The raven carefully accepted it and studied the contents for a while before he drank it down. 'Urgh _discussing,'_ he thought.

They sat there for a moment; Harry looking down into the almost empty glass and Sheik studying him nervously. Then the smaller boy held his glass up and concentrated.

Sheik blinked as the liquid still inside the glass had gone solid. He gasped. "H…how did you do that?" he asked his eyes wide and hands shaking slightly.

Harry looked over at the Sheikah. He shrugged he had simply concentrated on the feeling that he had gotten earlier as the water around him started to freeze and it had just happened.

"Ah, Harry you are awake," Master Kenteishu's voice broke through their daze. The boys looked up at the elder. "I owe you an apology Harry and you as well Sheik," the man said as he stepped into the room. "I never believed that you would be quite so powerful and so I asked of Sheik to act the way he has towards you. He did it on my orders not out of his own will," the master explained.

Harry looked at the bald Sheikah for a moment before he said, "If you knew I can do things like that why on earth didn't you tell me about it," demanding an answer.

It's an excellent question Harry. Unfortunately I doubt that father has a satisfactory answer…"

"No see here Galena…"

"Shush old man you've done enough damage. I'll deal with that part of his training from now on," the honey-blond Galena told her father in a stern tone. She tuned towards Harry. "You should rest little raven," she said before herding the other two out of the room.

Things got interesting after that. Every other day now, Harry had magic training something which had greatly confused him. "But magic isn't real is it?" he had looked at Galena.

"What have given you that idea little raven?" she asked him.

"Well my relatives I guess," he looked at her. "The people I lived with before I came to Hyrule," he elaborated.

"They told you that magic isn't real?"

"Yes, they got angry if you so much as mentioned anything unnatural. They didn't like me very much."

"Well," Galena said, "they are wrong magic is real and you can definitely use it Harry." She continued by teaching him a few meditative stances which would help him relax enough to, in theory at least, be able to sense his magic.

It was hard. Harry would like to say that it was impossible but he knew that the only response he would get to that was 'you're not trying hard enough.'

It would take several months for the young raven to even get a glimpse of the power he possessed.

As the weeks passed, the adult Sheikah realised that they would not be able to teach the young magician what he needed to learn especially after Harry, completely by accident, had tuned several good sparing knives into wood in sheer frustration.

"We need to contact the Sorcerer," Galena told the others one night.

They looked up at her.

"Are you certain that it's necessary Galena? The Sorcerer doesn't like to be disturbed," her father asked her.

"Yes I'm certain. We can't teach Harry. His magic doesn't work like ours. He can do far more than we can and he needs to be taught by someone who can understand him and his powers. I can only help him so far," she said. It was obvious Galena had decided that this was the best course of action concerning Harry.

They discussed how they would handle this. Should one of them contact the Sorcerer in hopes of convincing him to travel to Atallieru or should one of them bring Harry to the Sorcerer. The discussion went on for hours until Impa said, "We should let the boy decide. He is old enough to make that kind of decision."

The others went quiet for a while contemplating Impa's words.

"She's right we must ask the boy. It's his life we are talking about after all," Kenteishu said.

It was decided that they would speak to Harry the following day.

…

"Don't you dare do that you uncouth little monkeys," Zelda's voice rang clear though the chill air the next morning.

Harry simply looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow. "Do what your silliness?" he asked innocently. He and Sheik had become rather good friends after the ice prism incident. They were currently balancing a bucket of water between them on a wooden board while they themselves were walking down ropes suspended in the air. Neither boy could quite understand what they weren't supposed to do as they kept walking.

"Master Annun, Master Annun they were going to drop that bucket on me," Zelda told the Sheikah, who came walking down the path towards them.

Annun looked at her and then over at the boys, who were now walking back the other way. The exercise they were currently doing was meant to test their ability to work as one. A single mistake would have the bucket falling to the ground. He sighed. "Boys is that true?" he asked.

"No of course not we might drop it though. So she really shouldn't be standing beneath us if she doesn't want to get wet," Sheik informed the older man just before he took a wrong step and both he and the bucket tumbled to the ground.

"Sheik are you O.K?" Harry jumped down from his own rope and ran over to the blond. He cheeked the bigger boy over for injuries.

"How could you? I'm going to go tell Impa about this," a grumpy and very wet princess Zelda said.

Harry rolled his eyes as he helped Sheik of the ground. He doubted that Lady Impa would do anything about this. It had been a complete accident after all and not like some other times he could think off. He and Sheik had learnt their lesson though. Don't ever get caught.

Annun was looking at them like he knew they were trying very hard not to laugh at the wet princess. The man sighed. "O.K. since Sheik was the one to lose his footing he will be doing the clean-up. And you young man," he turned to Harry, "have been summoned by the elder. Off you go," he told them.

Knowing that Master Kenteishu did not appreciate to be kept waiting, Harry quickly made his way up to the elder's house.

"Master Kenteishu you wished to speak with me," Harry said with a respectful bow.

"Ah, young realm traveller sit," the old man finished what he was doing and made his way over to the table were Harry was now sitting. "We have decided that you need a teacher in magic better equipped to handle your gifts," he informed the raven.

Harry nodded that made sense. The Sheikah didn't really have the same abilities he did after all.

"We came to the conclusion that there are two possible courses of action we can take. Either we can hope that the Sorcerer would accept an invitation to come here or you would have to travel to him. We made the decision to allow you to choose which course to take," Master Kenteishu told him.

Harry looked at the bald man for a moment. _'Leave here,'_ he bit his lip he would probably need to leave in order to learn either way. _'But I would get more time with Sheik if I stayed. However, I will be of greater help to Link the more I know and I would really like to learn proper magic.'_

"I believe it would be more beneficial for me to go and see this Sorcerer rather than hopping that he may come here," Harry told the Sheikah Master.

Kenteishu smiled he was proud of the boy. His determination to leave showed just how much he wanted to learn in the elders eyes. "You will be leaving with Annun tomorrow then," he informed the raven, who quickly got up from the chair, said his goodbyes and left the house.

"I'm leaving," Harry told Sheik once he had manage to find the blond.

"Oh really," Sheik seemed disappointed.

"Yeah, they think I need to learn magic from someone who would be better suited to teach me. So I need to go," Harry bit his lip. He didn't like having to leave Sheik, but he really wanted to learn. "I'm sorry but…"

"No its O.K. you need the best teacher you can get Harry," Sheik interrupted him.

Harry nodded.

They decided to make the most of the short time they had left instead of thinking of what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

><p>Harry and Annun left early the next day.<p>

Sheik was sitting on the fence by the gate and waved goodbye to the smaller boy as the two riders disappeared amongst the rocks.

The ride took Annun and Harry through the mountains, over seemingly boundless plains, into deep forests and even across a vast river. They travelled for a long time always being too late when they arrived.

The Sorcerer had moved on.

"At this pace we'll miss him again," Harry said.

"There isn't much we can do but follow him and hope," Annun sighed.

They wouldn't catch up to the Sorcerer until he finally stopped moving. Once that happened, Annun and Harry had been on the road for months. Harry had turned eleven some time ago not that he knew that.

…

"Finally we manage to catch up with you Master Sorcerer," Annun said.

"Ah, you have been following me have you," the Sorcerer said with an amused smile playing on his lips.

"Yes. I believe that you would be interested in meeting my companion Master Sorcerer," Annun told the man.

"Is that so," the dark haired magician said. He motioned for Annun to lead the way. "Why don't you convince me my good Sheikah," he said.

They walked down the winding path leading from the elder's house – in the small village they were currently staying in – to the tiny building which served as the Inn.

Harry was sitting outside playing with some of the local children. He had created small colourful marbles for them and the kids were having loads of fun trying to build pyramids with the smooth orbs.

"The one with the emerald gaze is the child I've brought with me," Annun informed the other man. "He claims to be from a place called England."

The man's eyes widened. "England you are certain?" he asked surprised.

"You should ask him yourself Master Sorcerer," Annun said and called over to Harry, "Come here little realm traveller."

Harry looked up at them before rising from the ground in one fluid motion which showed the training he had been through. "Annun what is it?" the raven asked as he reached them.

"This is the Master Sorcerer, Harry," Annun explained.

Harry blinked and looked over at the second man. He was had long black hair pulled back in a low ponytail and bright amber eyes. His skin was pale but not unhealthy so, and he was wearing dark green tailored robes with a heavy belt rimmed with little vials.

"Good day sir," Harry said politely accompanied by a small bow.

"Day's blessings to you Harry," the man said.

Harry's brows furrowed he knew that language but it wasn't Hylian. Then as he thought about it he realised that he hadn't spoken that language since he'd arrived in Hyrule. It was English. "You speak English sir?" he asked surprised.

"Yes little one I do. The warrior Sheikah indicated that you are capable of performing magic. Is that so?" the man asked.

"Yes sir." 

"Can you show me young one?"

Harry nodded and lifted his hands. From his palms a soft glow spread and then as it faded, he was holding a flower bud. It slowly opened to reveal beautiful purple petals with white edges.

"Wonderful young one you certainly have power," the man studied the raven for a moment. "I will teach you little one just like the Sheikah would like me to," he had switched back to Hylian.

"Thank you Master Sorcerer," Harry said with a bow.

"Ah, but you as my apprentice will call me by my name," the Sorcerer said. "My name is…"


	7. Master of Serpents

**Master of Serpents**

.

A/N: Cookie for those who guessed the Sorcerer's identity correctly. I can say that 'cause you guys would get it on the title anyway.

* * *

><p>Harry had been living with his Master for over a year now. The magic he was being taught was complicated to lean but well worth it. He was currently trying to turn a block of wood into iron. He had managed to make it go grey but that was it so far. He sighed, <em>'Stupid wood,'<em> and closed his eyes. This wouldn't work he was way to frustrated. _'O.K. deep breath calm down Harry. Wood to iron what makes them different, how are they built up, what are their characteristics?'_ Another deep breath and he focused his magic on the block and released the built up power.

"Well done youngling."

Harry looked up his Master was standing next to him with the block in his hand, it was a dull grey. He stood up and reached out, it was cold. "Yes finally," the boy did a little victory dance.

"Now you need to turn the iron into glass."

"Master Salazar," Harry groaned.

The man laughed and placed the block back before his pupil. "Not today Harry. We'll do something else for a while."

"Yay," Harry exclaimed enthusiastically as he stretched. He loved transfiguration don't get him wrong. It was just so hard to do. According to Master Salazar, though, the more he trained the easier it would become. At least he wasn't turning one piece of wood into another piece of wood anymore,_ 'that had been soooo boring,' _Harry thought.

They were walking into the potions lab and the raven rubbed his hands together. He had started to actually brew potions a few weeks ago.

Salazar turned around to face his apprentice he smiled at the joyful look on the boy's face. "We will create a colour changing potion today," he said as Harry started preparing his work space. "Now which ingredients do you believe we will need for this one Harry…?" he asked.

This was how every potions lesson went. Salazar would tell Harry what the potion was supposed to do and then Harry had to figure out what ingredients to use in order to gain the desired result. Salazar would give him pointer from time to time but normally he would just let his apprentice experiment. The method usually meant that the raven figured out twenty-seven ways not to make a colour changing potion, for example, before he got one or even several that worked with different results.

He walked around with pink hair for a month after one of the cauldrons exploded on him. He was never using those two ingredients together again!

There was the rare occasion were Harry stumble on a combination of ingredients which Salazar had never explored before. It had the older man all giddy with excitement. He would stay up for days just to figure out how the new concoction could be used.

Apart from transfiguration and potions Harry also learned charms which had consisted of him trying to make things hover to begin with and he had now moved on to making items fireproof. He would start summoning items after this.

The fireproofing was actually linked to his potions making. He had managed to set fire to his workbench and it had spread quite far by the time Salazar had made his way back to the house and put the fire out.

Harry was also learning defence magic something he found rather interesting. He was trying to create shields to deflect all kinds of attacks including pure physical ones, although, that was hard and would take a lot of training. Salazar had informed him that they would do offensive magic later on once he had gotten a hang of the defensive.

* * *

><p>"We need to acquire some Deku-toad eggs," Salazar said one morning, "and some chuchu jelly." He was looking though his storage. "Might as well do a proper ingredient hunt don't you say?" he looked over at his student who was currently trying to get his sedative potion to thicken.<p>

"Yes Master," Harry's voice was strained. _'I have to get this right.'_

An ingredients hunt could go on for months and meant that the two of them would meet a lot of different creatures as they travelled. Salazar was muttering and mumbling to himself as he packed the last few essentials the next morning before his beautiful king cobra, Midaine, climbed up on his shoulders.

And so they were of travelling to see the world.

…

Salazar lived in a rather sizeable – cave house was probably the best way to describe it. The place was like a house but most of it lay inside a big cave with strange opal veins spread throughout the ceiling giving a strange multi-coloured light both as the sun shone though and in reflections from the fire. Now, however, they were leaving so Salazar raised a ward around the cave which would keep any kind of intruder out.

They would be walking until they could find a good place to purchase horses. Because of the high amount of ingredient that Salazar was certain they would acquire they were in need of two horses one just wasn't enough.

…

Harry was watching in amusement as his Master bartered with the ranch owner. The man had started out by trying to sell the two of them steeds which looked like they could die from a light breeze. Salazar wasn't stupid, however, and soon found a pair of horses better suited for their travels. It was now a matter of price. Harry had a feeling that his Master would soon do something drastic to set the foolish ranch owner straight.

"I have no wish to buy the entire ranch my good man. The price you are demanding could easily do just that," Salazar was getting impatient. "Harry," he said.

"Yes Master," the raven answered.

"Would you fireproof the stables please," his master asked.

Harry nodded before he concentrated on his magic. As it left him, he turned towards the older raven once more.

Salazar lifted his hand, "Set aflame," and the entire stables started burning. He turned back to the ranch owner with a small smile. The man looked like he would faint any moment now. From inside the stables they could hear the horses neighing in panic.

"Please you can take the horses just put the fire out," the man pleaded with them.

Salazar raised his hand once more and did a very good show of dampening the flames as he closed his hand into a fist.

The ranch owner was gaping there wasn't a single sign of the fire left on the building. He swallowed and gratefully accepted the money Salazar now offered him for the horses. Salazar and Harry offered a fare-thee-well and trotted away.

…

It would take several days travelling over a plain with little bombskits running around –Harry who still had the slingshot with was instructed to kill several of the strange little two legged insects so that they could sample eyes and shell fragments from them – Before they reached a small hamlet within which there existed a fable of a gigantic moth that appeared on the eve of the longest day of the year. The two magicians were right on time for this year's arrival of the big winged bug.

"I don't understand why you would want to encounter the monster sir. It does a lot of damage to this hamlet when it appears. Last year it killed two adventures who tried to rid us off the pest," the hamlets leader, Solas, told Salazar when asked were exactly the mothula would come from.

"Ah, there is no need to worry. I simply wish to know at this point," Salazar reassured the man.

"It usually travels from the west from a clearing in the forest by way of the river Tairioh and here," Solas said.

"That is good to know. Thank you my good man," Salazar said before walking back to the place where he had left his apprentice and their horses. "We should follow the river," he told Harry as he mounted his steed.

They made their way to the small clearing that Solas had informed Salazar of and set camp just by the tree-line. The trap they would have to set in order to capture the mothula had to be strong. It also had to be set in a way as to not harm the big wings unnecessarily. They had decided to capture the moth away from the hamlet so no one would get hurt

Harry was walking around the clearing placing out rune stones every twelfth step while Salazar was preparing the many jars and bottles they would use to store ingredients in. The containers would be much bigger on the inside than the outside and they would also be equipped with a charm to keep them fresh. Not quite a stasis charm but close enough because a stasis charm would eventually start interfering with the natural magic of the content. The stay-fresh charm, however, was placed on the outside of the container and wouldn't interfere with any natural magic but also didn't keep the content fresh indefinitely like a stasis charm would.

"There," Harry placed the last rune stone. "I'm finished Master Salazar," he informed the older raven.

Salazar looked around. "Very good you should start the preparations for supper then," he instructed his pupil.

The work continued in silence as Harry started cutting vegetables and some fruit for the meal. Once in a while they could hear the crowing from a nearby nest of guays and snorts of their horses as they nibbled on the forest's rich grass. Harry dumped the cut pieces into a pot as Salazar finished the spell-work on the last bottle. The older man stretched with an audible pop before reaching over and grabbing a rabbit. He quickly skinned it, cut it up and added it to the stew. The fruit juice was complemented with water and they left it to simmer.

Supper was eaten and one last check of the rune stones was executed before they went to bed.

The night was chilly.

…

In another part of the forest the wolfos were gathering. Their little ones were tired and hungry the older ones nervous. There was something strange going on in their home. In the morn a hunt would be called. The corruption of their land had to be destroyed.

They wouldn't make it back.

A lone cub looking for its mother.

A last howl disappearing with the wind.

…

Salazar and Harry would know nothing of these events as they relaxed in the clear water of Tairioh, the sun drying their cleaned cloths.

Harry liked water he moved his hands through it. A string of water started snaking its way up in the air. It looked like a perfect replica of Salazar's familiar Midaine. The serpent struck at the raven's master and turned to mist at a wave of the man's hand.

The day progressed slowly as they waited for the giant moth.

And then they could hear it – the flapping of wings approaching. They quietly made their way just behind the first row of trees. Then they waited once more. It didn't take long till the mothula could be seen.

Harry gave a silent gasp, _'It's huge,'_ he though, _'and beautiful.'_ The moth had an 8' 2" wide fore-wing span with a big purple and orange feathered pattern on a lime green base. The hind wings were darker with a jade green base and purple outer margin. It had a single yellow eye, jade antennas, a black thorax and blue abdomen.

The magic of Salazar's trap activated and threaded yellow lights weaved up and around the moth until there was a perfect golden dome surrounding the creature. The yellow eye turned red in anger before the mothula started flapping its wings faster creating a wind so strong Harry had to crouch down behind the tree he was standing by so he wouldn't be pushed away.

Salazar was mumbling under his breath as he walked forward towards the moth. The monster screeched and clicked its pinchers. It didn't stop the Sorcerer from progressing though and as the mothula launched itself forward Salazar raised a hand and it fell to the ground seemingly unconscious. "You can come out now Harry," he said as he walked up to one of the massive wings. "Bring one of the bottles with you," the man instructed his apprentice.

Harry picked up a bottle and walked up to his master.

"You have to be very careful so you don't harm the wings when you do this," Salazar said as he brushed powder of the moth's wings.

As the powder filled the bottle, Harry noticed that it didn't seem to have one set colour. It was like the tint changed depending on how the sun hit it. The bottle was filled and stored away. They removed the rune stones, cleared what was left of their camp and mounted the horses.

The giant moth would slowly wake up and in its confusion would not attack the hamlet of Tsaubuns that year.

* * *

><p>The chuchu jelly was easily acquired a couple of weeks later as they came by a cave were the slimy monsters seemed to thrive.<p>

It, however, took them several months to reach Numa Marches were the Deku-toads seemed to prosper. On their way there they had encountered a large grey bird called hrok and gained several feathers from them while trying to avoid getting blown up by the bomb fruit the birds kept dropping. And the Deku baba who's teeth had a rather unique quality but the tongue and thorns also made for good ingredients.

The marches were. _'Wet is one word you can use. Humid is another and definitely foul-smelling,'_ Harry thought. While he loved water, the march was just disgusting. He stepped in something slimy, putrid and green – not the nice soft forest green that made him think of Kokiri Forest but a sickly yellowish colour that looked more like something had puked it up. "Ew," he said quietly.

The travel though the marches was NOT FUN as far as Harry was concerned.

Salazar, however, didn't seem to mind at all as they had to cut down another set of thick vines in order to proceed. They were nearing the Deku-toads nesting ground now.

Harry thought it was a good thing that they had left their horses with a farmer who lived close to the Numa Marches.

"We have to be very quiet now," Salazar whispered. "I will cast a charm which will dampen the sound of our feet, but you still have to be careful."

Harry nodded and with a, "Yes Master," they continued.

Sneaking in to a Deku-toads nest may sound easy enough, but then you aren't aware of the fact that a grown Deku-toad is just under 15 foot long and carries most of their eggs on their backs. This meant that they had to sneak in without waking the Deku-toad and steal the eggs right from its back. Sounds like a lot of fun, right.

Harry was very glad when they had made their way back out again and were resting a good deal of distance away from the giant toads.

…

Their marches trip was not over yet, though. There lived a very rare dragonfly in these marches; one that could generate electricity and Salazar just had to get some.

There were times when Harry wondered who the adult out of the two of them was. When gathering rare ingredients was one of those times. Salazar could get so excited over a small piece of scale or blood or muscle ligament that he had a hard time keeping up. Not that the raven didn't love potions – ingredients gathering not so much –though.

As they travelled to find the dragonfly, twilight fell over their path. They would need to set camp soon since the marches weren't very traveller friendly at night. Locating a dry patch they set up a small tent, enlarging charms were truly remarkable.

The night was unusually calm. The croaking of frogs could be heard in the distance but apart from that it was quiet. It was very quiet until…

The sound of splashing water woke Harry up. _'What's going on… who is out there?' _he wondered disoriented as he sat up.

The noises were coming closer. They were much louder now.

**_"_****_Stupid two-legs trampling around scaring the frogs." _**

Harry heard a hiss coming from the tent entrance. **_"Midaine is that you," _**he hissed nervously.

The serpent raised her head and turned towards her master's apprentice. **_"You can speak hatchling?" _**she seemed surprised **_"Master has not told me this."_**

Harry bit his lip he didn't understand what she meant by speak but he was too frightened to really care.

**_"_****_Get back little human. The lizard two-legs are almost upon us," _**Midaine hissed suddenly before she slithered over to the raven and wrapped her coils around him. **_"I will protect you little hatchling,"_** she said trying to reassure the shaking boy.

Then there was a flash of light and a loud splash before everything went quiet.

Something moved by the tent flap and Midaine raised her body ready to strike at any danger.

It was Salazar. He looked around in the small space. "Are you O.K Harry?" he asked.

The raven nodded while the king cobra slipped of his small frame.

**_"_****_You did not tell me that the hatchling can speak Master," _**she seemingly berated the man as she made her way up to him.

**_"_****_What do you men lovely?" _**Salazar asked perplexed.

**_"_****_The little human can speak our tongue Master," _**she hissed as she settled around her Master's shoulders.

The older man turned to Harry and hissed, **_"Can you understand me Harry?"_**

**_"_****_Yes Master Salazar," _**Harry hissed back.

"Extraordinary," Salazar exclaimed. "A young wizard who can speak Parselmouth just happened to be transported from England to Hyrule," Salazar sat down his brows creased in thought. "What year was it when you left England Harry?" he asked the raven.

"Nineteen-ninety Master," Harry answered.

Salazar was taken back. _'So long,'_ he thought. It felt like he had spent less than a decade here in Hyrule. He rubbed his chin. _'I certainly hadn't counted on that,'_ he sighed. "This will make learning magic easier for you if you can learn to use parselspeech to focus your powers with," he informed Harry. "But we will not be dealing with that until after we're back out of the marshes," he said as he settled down for sleep once more. "Sleep now little snakeling."

…

At least, the dragonflies weren't too difficult to deal with especially since they could kill the annoying monsters when they encountered them the next day.

They bottled wings and abdomen segments, blood and segmented eyes. The swamp dragonflies were almost 4' 6" long with a wing span of almost double that. It made for a lot of ingredients.

Making it out of the marches didn't take anywhere near as long as it had taken them to get in – mostly because they had decided to simply head in a straight line out. It meant that they ended up several miles from where they had entered, however, and therefore had to follow the March line back to the farmer they had left their horses with.

The walk was silent and both man and boy had a lot on their minds. Midaine blinked lazily where she lay around her Master's shoulders.

When they entered the farm there was a sad tune in the air. It was beautiful and Harry started looking around for the source. The farmer's little daughter was sitting on a stump by the grazing cows. She was playing a violin.

Harry unloaded his burden before walking up to the strawberry-blond girl. "That is beautiful song," he said. The girl simply looked at him with big blue eyes for a moment gauging him. Then she held the instrument out to the raven.

He was surprised. "Do you want me to try?" he asked. She nodded and helped him place his hands correctly on the neck and the chinrest under his chin. Then she lifted the bow and drew it over the strings. She showed him how to make different notes and with a bit of trial and error he was playing tentatively. It sounded horrid to begin with but by the time Harry and Salazar were leaving he could actually play short melodies rather well.

* * *

><p>Their travels eventually lead them to the small village of Atallieru and Harry's training with the Sheikah would now continue together with his magical training.<p>

On their way there Salazar had acquired a violin for his apprentice since the boy seemed to be a natural at playing the complex instrument. The violin and bow were made out of bone and black scales[1]. Harry would practice with it whenever he had time over and would over time become very good at playing it.

* * *

><p>[1] Think the Guitar of Waves from Majora's Mask in violin form but less fishlike.<p> 


	8. Trials of Truth

**Trials of Truth**

.

Warning: Partial rape scene ahead.

* * *

><p>Harry missed Link, he really did. But Link was trapped in the Sacred Realm and would remain there for another year and a half or so. It meant that no matter how much he missed the blond there was nothing he could do about it. He stood up thinking he might as well do something useful instead of just sitting there brooding.<p>

**_"_****_Good morning hatchling," _**Midaine hissed.

**_"_****_Good morning Midaine. Out for a sun bath?"_** Harry asked the king cobra. He had gotten much better at telling which language he was using as time passed by. The years of training with the Sheikah had paid of well and the three children, if you could call them that, had improved significantly.

**_"_****_Yes hatchling the morning sun is so nice here," _**the king cobra replied.

Harry smiled. He would forever be hatchling to Midaine no matter how old he got; he knew that. The adults had taken to calling them young men – and woman, – though.

The raven started walking leaving the big snake to her sunbath.

Good mornings were exchanged as Harry made his way to the small fruit orchard he and Salazar had created just south of the village. Galena had been so thrilled at having fresh fruit so close by. It had been a rather hard thing to come by here in the mountains for obvious reasons but the magicians had managed to get some trees to grow and flourish. Harry ran a hand along the bark of an apple-like tree. His hand glowed a faint golden colour, as he fed some magic to the plant. A callused hand landed on his shoulder. "Good morning Sheik," he said seemingly unsurprised at the presence of the youngest Sheikah.

"Good morning Harry, Sheik said with a disappointed growl. "Can't you at least act shocked or something," he groaned.

"Why would I do that?" the raven questioned amused.

"It would make me feel better," Sheik said.

Harry shook his head laughing lightly at the Sheikah's ridiculous request. He could understand why the blond was frustrated. Sheik was a Sheikah after all. Neither Harry nor Zelda had become full-fledged Sheikah warriors. Harry because he was a wizard and could do things the Sheikah would never be capable of while being completely abysmal at certain aspects of the regular Sheikahn regime and Zelda because she simply didn't have the ability to become one. "It would just make you lazy Sheik. You need someone to keep you on your toes," the raven teased.

"I don't even get how you do it. I mean, I don't make a single sound when I approach you," the blond had wondered this before and the answer was always the same.

"I can feel your magical aura Sheik. I know you are there as soon as you come within twenty feet of me," Harry said. He started humming as he walked up to another tree in the orchard.

"Unfair that's what it is," Sheik pouted.

Harry simply laughed at the petulant blond making him scowl.

"Harry, Sheik," Zelda called and they turned to the girl. "Kenteishu wants to see us in the dojo immediately," she informed them.

"When does Kenteishu not want us to come immediately?" Harry muttered to Sheik, who sniggered.

The boys did quicken their pace, though. They made their way to the dojo and settled down on either side of Zelda.

Sheikah Master Kenteishu looked solemn as he sat there on a worn straw mat. "It is time for the three of you young warriors to pass though the trials of truth," he said as he met their gaze one by one. "Should you make it past these trials you will be stronger and wiser. The ones who clear the trials are the only true adults among the Sheikah," he told them.

"You will have to pass though the trials of truth alone," Impa said. "The trials will be different for all of you."

"The trials will test your strength, your skill, your determination, and your will," Annun said.

"And they will first and foremost test your ability to determine the true nature of your soul," Galena finished.

They would have to prepare. The trials could take anything between a week and several months to clear. There was little time for talk as they packed the essentials. The next day the three teens would leave for a test that could either kill them or make them much stronger.

…

"Good luck snakeling we will see each other again soon," Salazar told his apprentice as the raven placed the last potions vial in his slotted belt.

Harry was far too nervous to answer though and simply nodded. He made his way to the cave or maybe it was a tunnel entrance where the others were already gathered. Not a word was spoken as the teenager walked down the path into the dim light. Soon the path split there was five different routes to choose from.

Harry took a deep breath before he walked over to a path leading south-west. Somehow he felt that he was supposed to go that way.

It was dark and getting darker with each step the raven took.

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling and the floor started falling out from under his feet. Closing his eyes he could feel that the floor was still there. He sent his magic out to check for voids in the floor. He continued like that his magic guiding his way until…

There was something moving up behind him… It was big.

Harry turned around._ 'Shit,' _he thought as he saw a giant boulder rolling towards him. He had two choices at this point either he could run like hell or he could destroy the boulder.

It only took him a split second to make his decision; he turned to face the big rock fully raised his hands and… CRACK! The boulder had been reduced to crumble before him. His hands were still glowing faintly from the release of power.

Harry turned around again and resumed walking. He kept going for what felt like hours but could just as well have been only a few minutes before he could see a faint light in the distance. Speeding up, the raven could soon see that the light which he'd first thought was a crack in the cave wall came from what looked like a street – a proper English street at that.

Harry turned around. He could faintly remember this place. It had been many years ago now though.

"Come here you useless little freak," a gruff voice ran through the air.

Harry moved forward, towards one of the houses. It was his Uncle. He looked up at number four, Privet Drive. It seemed to be just like when he had left which was strange wasn't it?

In the garden a small boy had stood up and was walking over to the blond walrus standing by the brand new car in the driveway.

"Yes Uncle Vernon," the boy said timidly.

"There is a scratch there boy," Vernon said and pointed at the car door. "How dare you scratch my car," the man's voice had gotten louder as he spoke.

And then he did something that had Harry see red. He hit the small child so hard the boy hit the ground with a sickening crunch. The small boy didn't get back up. A pool of blood was forming by his head slowly.

"Good riddance," Vernon muttered and walked inside.

Harry looked around. _'Didn't anyone see that?'_ he wondered, but the street was empty. He looked back at the child. The boy's skin had paled considerably.

_'__He'll die if the blood flow isn't stopped soon,' _Harry thought as he started walking forward. He kneeled down and grabbed the boy's head. He felt for the crack, for there had to be one considering the nasty sound. He found it and focused his magic into healing the wounds he could find. Healing magic was hard and not his best subject but he could do it. As he worked he thought about Uncle Vernon's behaviour. Something was strange. Sure the man had never been pleasant but he had never openly hit him like that.

There was the sound of a door being slammed shut.

"What do you think you're doing on my property? Get out!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

Harry looked up from the small boy in his arms. "I'm making certain he doesn't die," he said between clenched teeth. He was really angry at the man in front off him.

"What is wrong dear," Aunt Petunia's shrill voice came from the open window right next to them.

"It's this kid he can't mind his own business Pet. There is no need to worry," the walrus man reassured his wife. Then he turned back to the raven on the ground. "There is nothing to heal the little nuisance is dead," the man said sounding rather pleased with himself.

Harry saw red he stood up with the small boy held protectively in his arms. "How dare you speak off him as if he is nothing, you big lazy git," he hissed at the man.

The raven could feel his magic pooling around him. A part of him wanted to just kill them to even the house with the ground and erase their very existence. The more rational part of him, however. The part which had been trained by Master Salazar for five years now thought death was a too easy a way out of what they had done. He gathered his power about him. "You will regret the way you have treated us. From this day on you'll never feel safe, you'll never feel satisfied, and you will never raise a hand to another living being again," he said as his magic left his body. He then turned around and left the horrid neighbourhood.

He walked on still holding the unconscious form of the child he had healed earlier. He reached a small grove and there among the trees he collapsed.

…

Harry He jerked awake. Something was wrong. He looked around there were trees everywhere just like when he had fallen asleep. But where was the small boy he'd had with him? He stood up and started walking searching for the child.

"Hey Harry."

The raven turned. "Link?" he said surprised at the blond standing there.

Link started moving towards him. "Why so surprised to see me Harry?" he asked as he reached out to grab the smaller teen.

"You're supposed to be asleep Link. In the Sacred Realm," Harry looked into the beautiful sky-blue eyes of his friend.

Link just laughed. "Really that is ridiculous Harry. I've been waiting for you," the blond leaned forward.

Harry was confused. _'Did the Sheikah lie to me?' _he wondered. Then he could feel roughened lips press against his own. He responded cautiously letting their lips move together.

Link's hands had settled around the raven's waist and he was slowly moving them up to rest in the unruly locks.

_'__This feels nice,' _Harry thought as Link lapped at his lips demanding entrance. The raven opened his mouth to let the wet appendage in to explore.

They broke apart for air after a moment and Link was smiling as he bumped their foreheads together. "I've missed you," he whispered before he started placing feather light kissed along Harry's collarbones.

"Ahhh," Harry moaned, _'that feels so good.'_

"I've missed you too Link," he said and grabbed a hold of Link's shirt. _'What wait, shirt?' _the raven thought for a moment before Link lifted his head and any chance of a proper line of thought disappeared as the blond started kissing him again. The blonde's hands travelled down to grab the smaller male's ass. Harry moaned into Link's mouth as the hands squeezed lightly._ 'Don't stop,' _he thought as Link started rubbing his hardening erection against him.

Hands grabbed to get restrictive clothes off and they were soon lying together on the ground writhing and moaning. "Ahhg, Link…" Harry tried to say something but the blond shushed him with a searing kiss.

It wasn't until Link made a move to pull down the smaller male's pants that he reacted. "Stop Link don't…!" Harry tried to get out from under the bigger teen.

"Shh, Harry you'll like it," Link said as he tightened his grip on the other boy.

"No stop Link I don't want to. Stop it," Harry had really started to struggle against the blond now.

Link reached up and grabbed his hands. "Hold still Harry," he said as he finally managed to pull the raven's pants off. He placed a hand on the smooth flesh of the raven's thigh while holding the teen's wrists with the other. "Lay still," he commanded.

Harry was close to tears now. _'This can't be Link,'_ he thought. _'It just can't be. Link wouldn't do this.'_ The raven felt something press against his ass _'NO! STOP!'_ his magic leaped out off his body and the blond went flying. The magic around the raven started cracking. He stood up and walked over to the blond teen. He narrowed his eyes "What are you," he asked angrily.

"I'm Link. Harry don't you recognise your own friend," the blond said sweetly.

"You aren't Link. Link would never try to rape me. What are you?" Harry's magic was leaping around him like lightning now, scorching the grass as it struck.

The fake Link sneered at the raven. "Took your own sweet time figuring that out didn't you. Maybe you don't know your little hero as well as you think," he said.

"Maybe I don't but I do know you're not him," Harry growled his magic leaping out towards the imposter tearing him apart. He didn't care if he killed a real human being at this point. He hated that it had felt good when that thing had touched him. His skin crawled; it made him feel sick.

…

Guilt followed Harry as he made his way through the rest of the trials before him. He hated that he had even for a second doubted what Impa had told him about his friend. The Sheikah wouldn't lie to him. They might withhold the truth but not outright lie.

The way he'd responded to the fake Link's advances was confusing as well. Did he want Link in that way? Did he want to have sex with the blond? The answer to those questions became YES something which had him groaning in frustration. _'Great I want to have a sexual relationship with a guy I haven't met in over five years and who's been locked up in the Sacred Realm during that time,' _he ran his hands though his hair messing it up completely. He had let his hair grow out and it now reached past his shoulder blades.

Finally after what seemed like forever he made it out off the cave… or tunnel. He walked forward and let himself fall down in the soft grass. There was a lot on his mind now after he had passed though the trials of truth. Not just about his so called relatives or his feelings for Link, but also concerning his temper which had flared more than once in there. And there was something seriously weird going on with his magic. He rubbed his forehead before he sat up and brought out his violin and bow. He started playing letting his emotions fuel the melody.

He played for hours.

As the sun was setting, Harry heard something strange. Accompanying his melody was a soft hissing sound. He looked around where was that coming from? He stood up slowly before walking over to the tree edge. The hissing got louder as he approached the trees. In the grass there was a small black and white snake hissing in tune with his violin. It had weird cyan-blue markings running over its body which were glowing faintly in the twilight.

**_"_****_Hello little one," _**Harry hissed after he had kneeled down next to the small serpent.

The snake seemed surprised. Not that it was very easy to tell with a snake. **_"You speak our language two-legs?" _**it asked.

**_"_****_Yes little one I can speak the language of serpents," _**the raven answered. He stopped playing and placed the violin down beside him.

**_"_****_Were you the one making that beautiful sound two-legs?"_** the little serpent asked as he slithered forward and flicked his tongue at the violin.

**_"_****_Yes I did. I was playing my violin," _**Harry said and placed his hand on the instrument.

**_"_****_Violin… It was sad," _**the serpent hissed.

**_"_****_Sss,"_** Harry did the serpent equivalent of a hum. **_"I play what I feel little one," _**he told the snake while looking up at the sky. He let himself fall back down into the grass. He was tired. A sigh escaped his lips.

**_"_****_Could you play some more two-legs?" _**the serpent requested after a little while. Harry looked over at it. He grabbed his violin and started playing. It was a softer happier tune than before. He played until the sun had set beyond the horizon.

The little serpent stayed with the raven that night.


	9. To Termina and Back Again

**To Termina and Back Again**

**_"_****_Are you leaving two-legs?" _**the little serpent asked the following morning as Harry got ready for his long hike to the area where he would be meeting Salazar.

**_"_****_Yes little serpent I'm leaving. My Master Salazar is waiting for me," _**Harry told the snake. The serpent appeared saddened by the knowledge. **_"You can come with me if you want to. Master Salazar can speak the serpent-tongue as well,"_** Harry offered.

The serpent seemed to perk up at that. **_"I can come along?" _**it said excitedly.

Harry laughed. **_"Yes you can come along. Come here," _**he said and the little snake climbed up his arm and settled down around his neck.

…

They made their way over hills and through a forest, talking as they went.

Harry found out that the other hatchlings born at the same time as the little serpent had been killed by some humans. That had been the reason why the serpent found his sad violin music so fitting. He also learned that the serpent was male and that he didn't have a name.

The raven thought about it as they walked on.

**_"_****_Can I call you Zant little one?" _**he asked one day.

They had been on the move for several days now. Around them all you could see was the soft roll of grass clad hills. The birds were singing and the rabbits kept running from hole to hole just out off their reach.

**_"_****_Zant," _**the serpent tried the name. **_"Zant is a good name. I am Zant,"_** he hissed pleased with the name.

**_"_****_What is that" _**Zant hissed after waking up one afternoon.

They were standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The waves rolling on the otherwise blue water were white with foam.

**_"_****_It's the sea little one,"_** Harry hissed in reply while closing his eyes. **_"The one we're meeting is down on the beach below us." _**The wind was blowing though his raven hair. It was refreshing to have the cool wind of the sea chilling him after the walk over sun kissed hills. He looked around there was a ledge reaching out over the deep blue water about a mile to his left.

He smiled.

Putting the distance behind him didn't take the teen long. He placed a water repellent on his clothes and Zant before he took a deep breath. He ran out and leaped. The air rushing by his ears was exhilarating as he fell.

Then he broke the water surface. The dive had been a spur of the moment kind of thing but Farore was he glad he had done it.

…

"Insane little snakeling what in the name of Nayru do you think you were doing," Salazar scolded Harry as he made his way back up on dry land.

Harry looked back. _'Oh,'_ he thought, _'that's high. No wonder Master is angry.'_

The ledge was at least a hundred feet above the water surface.

"Ehh," the raven looked back at his Master. "It seemed like a good idea from up there," he said lamely.

Salazar ran his hands though his hair complaining about foolish children while pacing back and forth.

Harry dumped his backpack inside the tent then went to sit down next to the still pacing Salazar.

**_"_****_What is happening Harry?" _**the raven's little black and white companion asked.

**_"_****_I made Master Salazar angry with me," _**Harry told the serpent.

Salazar had turned his head at the sound of hissing coming from his apprentice. **_"Who do you have there Harry?" _**he asked.

The teen looked up and then he slowly brought the small serpent out for his Master to see. **_"This is Zant. I met him after I had passed the trials," _**he told Salazar.

The older man looked shocked for a moment before he held a hand out for the serpent to slide over to. **_"This is a Twili Harry they are very rare and very dangerous. Midaine's poison is nothing compared to what he'll be capable of. He's a good companion to have if he'll agree to it," _**he told his apprentice who looked just as shocked as the master had a moment earlier.

_'__A twili that's amazing,'_ Harry though. Master Salazar had told him about those but they were so rare that he'd doubted they would ever get to meet one. He reached out to reclaim the small serpent and placed him back around his neck.

The master and student would be talking for a long time after that. About subjects ranging from what they would do next to how the Trials of Truth had gone for the raven. Harry told his master about the fake Link and the emotions that had surfaced in him. Salazar tried to reassure him that it was perfectly normal to react in a positive way when sexually stimulated especially if you like the person who is doing it. It had taken the older man quite some time to help the teen work his way the mess which his emotions had created, and Harry's guilt had settle somewhat by the end of the conversation.

While the two humans had been conversing, so had the serpents. Though, their conversation consisted more of Midaine teaching the much younger Zant about things like Masters and magic and the world in general.

They would be leaving early the next day and travel over the ocean this time which was something new to Harry – and to Zant of course.

…

It was wet, windy and cold. Not the least bit pleasant at all. It had been raining for eight days straight now and they were running short on food. Water was no problem considering that it just wouldn't stop falling which was good in a way Harry guessed since there was no chance of them dying of thirst. The waters were getting unsteady, though. The waves were much bigger now and if this continued they might capsize.

No sooner said, or rather thought, than done the very next wave turned the small boat over and landed them in the freezing water.

Harry who had been half asleep as it happened drew a breathed in sheer shock as they hit the water.

When the teen opened his eyes again, he was lying on a beach and there was a blue leg right next to him. He sat up and his eyes meet with the blue eyes of a Zora who looked an awful lot like a grown Ruto. He certainly hoped that she wasn't the Princess. Looking around, he noticed that there were more Zoras present on the shore. They all looked different from the ones he and Link had met in Zora's Domain. One had long bangs covering his eyes, one had less humanoid facial features and brown spots instead of the usual blue, and one was considerably bigger than most Zoras both in height and width.

Harry turned back to the female Zora. "Where are we?" he croaked.

The Zora just looked at him sadly her eyes full of unspoken pain.

"Uh, dude she can't talk to ya'. Her voice doesn't work," the Zora with the bangs said as he walked up to them.

"Oh, O.K. so can you tell me where we are then," the raven said saddened by the information.

"Yeah, we're on the Great Bay Coast," the Zora said. "I'm Japas and this's Lulu," he introduced them to Harry.

**_"_****_Master is awake," _**Zant hissed happily as he made his way up to the teen.

**_"_****_Hey Zant! Do you know where Master Salazar and Midaine are?" _**Harry asked the small serpent.

Zant gave a snake shrug. **_"No Master I don't,"_** he said. **_"Master couldn't breathe under water and the nice fish people saved him and brought us here," _**the serpent informed his Master.

Harry turned back to the two Zoras beside him and thanked them for saving him.

"No prob kido. Better than letting ya' to die out there," Japas told him. "We've had enough death around here without addin' another one," he continued sadly.

That's when Harry noticed the numerous graves scattered over the beach. One of them had a rather fish like guitar marking it. He stood up slowly. _'They're musicians,'_ he though as he looked at the odd Zoras. He walked up to the marked grave. There was something special about this one. It was different from the rest and not just because it was the only mark grave. He brought his violin out and placed the bow against the strings glad that he'd placed strong water repellents before the journey started.

The melody which poured out from the beautiful instrument was sad. As Harry played, he slowly stared moving – sort of dancing with the tune. From his feet magic started flowing out into the sand and the graves slowly changed from sand to a clear crystal-like substance.

The Zoras just stared in bewilderment at the young human as he moved between the grave mounds. They were surprised that a human could actually manage to express their sorrow so well and with music no less.

Harry gradually let the melody die out as he stopped dancing. The last tones disappeared with the wind.

"That was a moving melody young man," the brown spotted Zora told him. "I am Evan by the way, leader of the band The Indigo-Go's," the Zora said.

"Thank you Evan I'm glad you liked it," the raven replied softly. Unhurried they made their way back to the other members of the Indigo-Go's.

"Mikau our guitarist lies here," Evan told Harry as they came to a halt next to the marked grave. "The other graves belong to the rest of our people. They were killed by the Deep Pythons as the moon fell on the land of Termina," he said.

"We were lucky to get away," Japas added looking out over the bay.

"The deep pythons wouldn't happen to be sea snakes about forty feet long and a dark greenish colour would they?" Salazar came walking up from behind the rock formation to the west.

"Yes that would be them," Evan answered.

"Nasty things…" the older human was interrupted by a loud hissing sound.

**_"_****_Nasty, nasty he says. They were barbaric idiotic foul beasts with no sense of respect," _**Midaine didn't sound happy as she described them.

"Yes, nasty," Salazar told his familiar. "There is no need to worry about them anymore," he had turned back to the Zoras.

"No," Evan seemed sceptical.

"No. They are rather dead at the moment no matter how much I hate killing members of the snake family they needed to go," Salazar left no room to doubt his words.

Midaine had left her Master and was now lying around Harry's shoulders muttering about the disgusting reptiles. Harry petted her soothingly trying to calm her down somewhat at least.

Salazar and Evan conversed for a while leaving the rest of them to fend for themselves. The two were pacing around the beach and their conversation was often accompanied by wide arm movements. The sun was setting as the two made their way back to the rest of the group. Night arrangements were made and supper, which Lulu and Harry had cooked, was eaten.

The following morning Harry and Salazar took farewell of the Indigo-Go's since there was little else they could do for the saddened Zoras as it now was. Their path brought them past the fallen moon. The air around the place was depressing to say the least and the plant life seemed to be slowly dying in a bigger and bigger radius from the giant rock. They hurried their pace to get away from the horrid sight.

…

From the Great Bay in the west to Ikana Valley in the east they travelled.

"This is the Ikana Kingdom," Salazar motioned. "We are here to find an ancient scroll written by the builders of Stone Tower Temple."

They had arrived at the foot of a smooth cut cliff face and Salazar was searching the area for a good way to get up. In the end he sighed and lifted his hand. The man slowly glided up to the road above.

Harry rolled his eyes and copied the move landing next to his Master. There were rolling stones which they had to avoid falling down on the path at regular intervals.

And there was a sound.

Harry turned around. It almost looked like a Goron he thought as it came closer. Then he smelled it, bomb flower. He turned around and ran grabbing his Master and pulling the man along with him as he did so.

One of the Goron like creatures exploded in the distance.

Salazar gave the teen a grateful look before the two walked into the Ikana Canyon. In the riverbed before them the water was running dry and you could see the remains of octoroks who had lived there laying in what water was left. Harry felt sorry for them dying because of dehydration. It didn't seem like a nice way to go especially for a mollusc.

They once again floated themselves up the cliff side. A small house stood up there it had big trumpet bells coming out off its roof.

_'__That looks really weird,'_ Harry thought. _'I wonder if they could actually play sound?'_

"I had a friend who used to live there before he got cursed by the gibdos several years ago," Salazar told his apprentice. "He was the one who told me about the scroll we've come here to collect."

Harry nodded his understanding.

They made their way over the gravelled ground. A desperate guay tried to attack them but Salazar simply sent off a beam of confusion magic at it making the bird fly off in the distance.

The Stone Tower was big and creepy. Harry didn't like it one bit. He was glad that they didn't need to care about the place's strange travelling mechanisms, though, since they seemed to be completely insane. What would have taken an eternity if they had climbed up the way the place was designed took the two wizards just under half-an-hour.

Now creepy was how Harry had described the place earlier that day. He had to say that now he was scared. _'Goddesses that thing is hideous,'_ he thought as he looked upon the entrance to the temple. It was a face with the mouth as the door in. The eyes were burning and the red markings on the statues face were glowing eerily. "We're going in there aren't we?" he asked, turning to face Salazar.

"Yes Harry we're going in there," Salazar answered.

The raven groaned.

The first room of the temple was big and open. There were several dragonflies moving about and one crazy bombchu. The bright light inside the temple was a stark contrast to the dim light of the actual Stone Tower outside.

"Why are we looking for this scroll anyway Master Salazar?" Harry asked.

Salazar got a faraway look for a while before he started to explain how he had met Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. How they had decided to build a magical school in Scotland. He told Harry about their dreams and hopes and how they had come to the conclusion that the school would need to be protected. Salazar had set out to find a way by which they could properly safeguard the school and its students. But he somehow had managed to end up here in Termina and had so far not been able to find a way back again. He now feared that he'd be too ancient to return to the human life of his birth planet. "As far as the people there know I must have died almost thousand years ago after all," he finished.

Harry, who had been fascinated by the story, bit his lip. He looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, "I'll do it."

His Master looked surprised.

"If you can find a way to get me there I'll fix things after I've helped Link save Hyrule," he said determined.

Salazar laughed. "Thank you little snakeling I would appreciate that," he said amused.

They made their way through the temple quickly.

When you didn't have to follow the stupid rules temples like that contained it was way easier to get through them.

It didn't take more than a few hours to find the scroll.

* * *

><p>It would take the two wizards several months to make their way back to Atallieru.<p>

...

"Harry, Harry where have you been?" Sheik called as the raven made his way into the small village.

"Oh, a little here and a little there," Harry answered evasively. "Ouch," he exclaimed as the Sheikah hit him.

"You better have something better to tell me. You've been gone for months," Sheik threatened.

"Jeez Sheik," Harry said and ran ha hand though his long raven hair. "O.K. I went with Master Salazar to get this thing after I had cleared the trials. That's why I've been gone for so long."

That seemed to satisfy the blond somewhat, and the two friends walked together to the dojo were the other Sheikah were currently training Zelda in some form of magic usage. "It won't work," she cried in annoyance after a while. "I won't be able to learn to do this stupid transformation in the small amount of time we have left."

Harry looked over at Sheik. "What is she trying to learn?" he asked.

Sheik shrugged. "They want her to be able to move around freely in Hyrule when you two go back so they are trying to teach her to transform into a replica of me," he explained.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "We have a potion that could manage it if the transformation seems like too much of a hassle," he said loudly enough for the rest to hear him.

Zelda turned around she looked murderous. "A potion, a potion you mean that I've been trying to learn this for weeks now and you have a potion that could do it?" she was definitely angry. You could see that by the very unpleasant shade of red her face had taken.

_'__It really doesn't match her clothes,'_ Harry thought as he watched her. She was wearing a god-awful shade of pink for some reason or another. "Yes we have a potion which could transform you into a perfect replica of Sheik," he confirmed.

"How long would this potion last Harry?" Impa asked the raven teen.

Harry smirked. "That's the beauty of it. We can make it last for as long as she needs it to," he told the stoic woman. She looked thoughtful for a moment glancing over to Kenteishu.

"Can she take more of the potion before it wears off and is there any way for her to remove it when she needs to?" the elder asked.

It was Harry's turn to look thoughtful. "Well if we could make it possible for her to remove it once she needs to we might as well make the potion last over a year or so. That way she wouldn't have to worry about drinking it more than once," he tapped his chin. "Master Salazar can we make an antidote for the humanoid-shapeshifter potion?"

Salazar who had just joined the gathering contemplated the question for a moment. "That should be possible. It might take us a while to work it out though. When is it needed?" he looked up at the Sheikah.

"You have about eight months or so before Zelda and Harry have to return to Hyrule in order to meet with Link," Impa informed the man.

Salazar nodded eight months would be plenty of time to figure out an antidote in. He walked off mumbling to himself trying to come up with good ingredients for the new potion.

"Well that will keep him occupied for some time," Harry said with a smile.

Sheik laughed and Zelda looked relived.

…

The teens would be training simply to keep in shape the upcoming months. There tended to be a lot of fooling around blended in with the training though.

Harry and Sheik declared a truce with the princess. She had improved drastically after going through the Trials of Truth.

When only a month remained before they needed to leave the village Salazar gave Zelda a smaller dose of the shapeshifter potion so that she could get used to moving around in the larger body.

"Hmph," Harry tried to stifle a laugh. It wasn't going very well though since he was soon laughing so hard he'd doubled over.

After Zelda had received the potion the three teens had disappeared off to train in private. But they had made their way back before the potion had worn off and Sheik and Zelda were now running around confusing the adults something awful. Apparently they had done a good enough job at least since not even the other Sheikah could tell them apart.

Of course that could be because Sheik was acting a lot like Zelda at the moment.

"Zelda, Sheik whichever one you are. Stop that at once!" Impa's voice could be heard from the direction of the storage building.

Harry got up. He just had to see this. He almost fell to the ground in laughter as he passed the last turn.

Impa was standing there covered in flour with a good amount of what looked to be a tar like substance dripping down her shoulders. She was red-faced and screaming at the top of her lungs.

Harry looked up after a while. _'Shit,'_ he thought. He pulled his violin out and started playing at a fast tempo.

They had agreed for that to be the signal for the two Sheiks to get over to the river and get cleaned up so that the adults wouldn't be able to tell who had been who. A white smoke spread from the raven's position as he played and soon covered everything in a thick white cloak.

The teens met back in the village dojo afterwards laughing and chatting.

…

A few nights later Salazar woke Harry up in the middle of the night and tugged the teen with him to the Shrine of Rituals. Once inside he turned to the raven. "Harry I have thought about this for a long time now," the he said, "and I've reached the conclusion that I would like to adopt you."

Harry stood there shocked for several minutes. Had he heard that right? _'Master Salazar wants to adopt me,'_ he thought stunned.

"I hope that you are favourable Harry," Salazar looked at the still speechless teen.

The raven finally managed to break out of his daze. "Yes Salazar I'd love to become your son," he said excitedly.

Salazar smiled at his apprentice. He held his hand out for the teen to take and lead the boy to the actual shrine. He had prepared the ritual room before fetching Harry and it now portrayed a set of circles lined with Hylian letters. The circles were glowing faintly in the dim light three surrounded by another with a single circle in the middle linking the tree together. Harry could see the words: Family, Join, Father, Son, Love, Magic, and Blood easily from his position next to Salazar.

"You shall kneel there," Salazar told the teen and pointed at one of the three circles.

Harry sat down where instructed as his Master picked several items up from a stone table in the corner of the room. He watched as the man kneeled down in his own circle. Looking around, he could see that the rune markings in his circle specifically held the words Son and Child while his Master's circle held the words Father and Sire. The third one was blank no words were written there. "Master why is that one unmarked?" he asked cautiously as he pointed at the circle.

Salazar looked up from the bowl he was holding. "That circle is used by the mother in an adoption ritual," he told the raven.

"Ah," Harry looked at it for a moment, "will the ritual replace my birthfather with you Master Salazar?" he asked concerned. He didn't know his birthparents but he loved them. They were only a figment of his imagination but still.

"No it won't replace your birthfather with me. The ritual will add me to your parentage so you will technically have two fathers," Salazar reassured Harry. "If you were to be adopted by two parents your parentage would change completely into that of the two adopting you though."

Harry nodded that made some sort of twisted sense he guessed. The older man instructed him to hold his right arm out over the middle circle.

"You need to accept the bond everything else will be done by me," Salazar told him. "Let go of the hold you have on your magic."

The raven did as instructed. His magic started flowing out around him making his hair float slightly. Meanwhile Salazar was cutting shallow symbols into the flesh of his own left arm. The blood was flowing to the clear crystal bowl standing in the centre circle. Harry tensed somewhat as his Master started cutting similar symbols into his right arm. It didn't hurt per se but it was uncomfortable. Then his Master's magic surrounded him soothing the slight pain. Salazar's chanting had switched from Hylian to Parselmouth.

**_"_****_Do you Harry James Potter accept me Salazar Slytherin as your sire and father?"_** he asked.

Harry met the older man's gaze and answered, **_"I Harry James Potter do accept you Salazar Slytherin as my sire and father."_**

**_"_****_So mote it be."_**

**_"_****_So mote it be."_**

Their magic mingled and sizzled. The blood glowed for a moment before it rose out off the bowl and swirled around their bloodied arms. The room was so dark now that Harry could barely see their joined hands let alone his master. He screamed. The pain was only present for a moment but it was enough for him to pass out.

When Harry awoke once more, he was back in the small house he had been given back when he'd first arrived in Atallieru. He sat up sluggishly. His skin itched and everything hurt up to his hair roots if that was possible. _'Urgh, never again am I doing something like that,' _he thought groggily. He ran a hand through his long locks. They were smoother, sort of silky.

The teen got out of bed eventually and made his way to Galena's house slowly.

"Harry?" Sheik came walking up a path to the raven's right.

Harry turned slightly to look at the blond. "Yeah," he answered obviously _'Course it's me.'_

Sheik just looked at him funny, though.

Harry shook his head and kept walking. He really needed some breakfast.

"…so they'll take the route through the valley going by Kokiri Forest rather than the Kakariko Pass," Impa stopped talking as Harry and Sheik walked inside.

"Good morning Harry. Sheik," she said then she blinked. "Harry what has happened to you?" she asked.

"What do you mean Impa?" Harry replied.

"Your appearance has changed dear," Galena told him.

Harry blinked _'It changed my appearance?' _

"Master Salazar adopted me last night," he informed them.

The Sheikah in the room looked shocked for a moment.

"That's nice Harry," Galena said smiling as she recovered from the shock.

The raven nodded and sat down to eat.

"Ah, there you are Harry would you please meet me by the orchard when you're finished," Salazar was standing in the door frame.

"Yes father I'll be there," Harry responded before turning back to his food.

Salazar smiled proudly at the teen before he left once more.

It turned out that Harry's father – _'That is kind of nice,'_ he thought – wanted to talk to his son about where they would meet after the defeat of Ganondorf.

The conversation was filled with fun and laughter and the two wouldn't re-join the others until dusk was falling over the land.

…

"The journey ahead of you will be dangerous. You'll travel into territory which has changed significantly and will be full of peril. Remember that you have each other and that we can win this," Impa said. She met Zelda's eyes for a moment. Unspoken words passed between them. "These items will help you in your tasks," she said.

Annun stepped forward and held out a box to Harry. In the box lay a pair of sai with black blades and silver-snake side-wings joined together at the wing base with one snake looking up on one side and the other down on the other. The handle was dressed in a pearl white ribbon which had the Sheikah eye at the tips.

Harry smiled; sai were his favourite weapon after all. "Thank you," he said respectfully with a deep bow.

Zelda had received a golden lyre said to have been owned by the human incarnation of the goddess Hylia. She turned to Harry. "So, we need to help the Hero find the Sages," she said.

Harry nodded.

"One is in a deep forest, one is on a high mountain, one is under a vast lake, one is within the house of the dead, and one is inside a goddess of sand," she counted them up.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"So Saria, Darunia, Ruto probably," then he turned to look at Impa, "and one completely unknown.

Zelda nodded.

"Link won't be happy that Saria is a Sage especially after he gets to know what that entails," Harry looked at the others, "but I guess that is one of the reasons it's good I'm going to be there." The raven shook his head in annoyance.

They would leave the next day and be followed by Impa several days later. The woman would join up with Zelda but they couldn't all go the same way. There was too big a risk that Ganondorf would find them out if they did.

So while Harry and Zelda as Sheik travelled most of the way together they separated just before they had reached Hyrule Field. Zelda would be meeting Link as the young man came out off his spelled sleep. Harry really didn't feel like being the one to explain things to his friend. He instead would travel to the location of the first Sage.


	10. Haunted Embers and Phantoms

**Haunted Embers and Phantoms**

Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda or Harry Potter and I would never even dream of making money off this.

* * *

><p>The air was filled with pollen. Harry watched the yellowish dust swirl around the meadow. He was lying on a tree branch high above the ground with Zant on his chest. The raven was half asleep, breathing softly. He turned his head looking out over the meadow.<em> 'Saria did say that this place would be important to us all one day,' <em>he thought.

…

Harry jerked awake. A loud crash had echoed through the calm air. The raven's brows furrowed. _'What's that…?'_ Then it hit him. The moblin out in the corridor must have banged his club to the forest floor. _'It must be Link.'_ He ran a hand through his long raven locks with a smile.

**_ "_****_Master is happy,"_** his familiar's hissing had him look down.

**_"_****_Yes Zant I'm happy. I will meet Link again. I've missed him,"_** Harry hissed and returned his gaze to the top of the stairs.

Crash!

* * *

><p>Link muttered as he walked over the bridge into Kokiri Forest. Seven years had passed since he'd walked the land of Hyrule last. He'd been horrified by the state of the Castle Town. ReDeads walked the streets and the place was long since abandoned. Dirt and blood had covered the cobblestones. He shuddered.<p>

He had travelled to the Lon Lon Ranch after leaving town. The ranch had been run by Ingo and he was treating the horses like crap. The man was a monster, beating the horses and forcing Malon to do all the work. He'd at least taken care of that problem. If Ingo was still there when he returned there would be trouble.

Epona had been a wonderful, though. The blond just knew that she'd make things a lot easier. He was actually surprised just how well they got along. Not that he'd complain.

The blond walked into Kokiri Forest and froze. It was filled with Deku babas and Deku scrubs. "What the…" he breathed. Then he had to duck out off the way of a Deku seed. He readied his shield and sent the next seed back at the scrub before he cut the stem of a Deku baba with a wide swing of his sword. His worry for Saria increased as he cut the monsters littering his childhood home down. He had contacted her using the ocarina just after he'd left Castle Town. The green haired girl had told him that she was inside the Forest Temple. _'What in the Lost Woods did she go to the temple for and why did she do it alone?' the blond wondered. 'Yeah, sure the forest spirits had called for help but…' _He cut down another Deku scrub. He was worried for her. She had mentioned monsters in there as well. He sighed.

Navi had been worried for the girl too. Now there was almost never a time when Navi wasn't worried about something or another, but this time Link couldn't help but agree with her. She had suggested that they should look for Saria in the Sacred Forest Meadow. It seemed like a sound idea.

What had happened to this place? Link looked around. The forest which had been filed with life and laughter was now dark and dreary. _'I can't leave this place like this,'_ he thought determined. He would fix this.

Speaking to his childhood friends Link quickly realised that none of them recognised him. He felt saddened by it. The little Kokiri hadn't changed at all actually. It confused him somewhat since he'd grown up. He couldn't take the way they looked at him though. So he left rather so after he'd cleared the place.

He travelled into the Lost Woods. Looking around, he could see the fruit trees and bushes he and Harry had gathered fruit from when they were young. He nibbled on his bottom lip remembering times long past. Tears rolled down his cheeks, _'Harry where are you?'_

By the spring the blond found his path blocked by Mido. He wouldn't let the teen pass at first, but when Link played Saria's Song he moved to the side. He had expressed his regret for treating the two boys with no fairies the way he had.

Link sighed. Once again he wondered where his raven haired friend was. Harry had just disappeared on him. Where would he have gone for seven years? What if Ganondorf had found him? The blond didn't want to think about it.

…

_'__Stupid moblins can't you just die,'_ Link thought as he shoot the hook of his hookshot through another of the monsters.

The maze which had been filled with mad scrubs years ago was now patrolled by giant moblins. The only comfort Link had was that the monsters were about as smart as the castle guards back when they'd sneaked in to see Zelda. He smiled at the memory before he turned another corner. One dead moblin later he could walk up the stairs leading to the meadow.

"Shit," he said out loud. There was another moblin but unlike the rest he had some sort of huge club instead of a spear. Link took a few tentative steps forward.

CRASH!

The moblin banged his club to the ground. It sent of a shockwave over the ground which would probably hurt like hell.

"Aaargh," Link screamed as he flew back to the short stairs leading up to the corridor, _'Stupid moblin.'_ He rubbed his back. He had been cast back another two times after the first.

He looked up at the moblin. It let out gurgle and fell to its knees before burning an eerie green colour.

The blond blinked. _'Wha…?'_

A figure stood on the other side of the flames. It looked like a Sheikah.

Link took a step forward.

The figure was dressed in black baggy pants and tunic with a white scapular showing the crying Sheikah eye in the centre. The eye was black with a silver serpent coiled around the tear to the difference of the red eye Sheik had been wearing. The blond wondered if there was some sort of meaning to the colour of the eye. He walked closer noticing that the person had long raven-black hair pulled back in a plait.

The raven turned around slowly.

Green eyes meet blue.

"Harry?" Link voice was hopeful.

The man laughed. "Yes Link it's me," he said.

The blond didn't waste a moment. He ran forward, grabbing the raven by the waist and spinning them around laughing as he did so. "Where did you get to Harry?" he asked as he let the smaller teen down.

Harry smiled, "The Sheikah kidnapped me. Took me off to train until we could meet again," he said.

Link looked at the raven. _'Stupid Sheikah,'_ he thought. He reached out and grabbed Harry's hand finally feeling:

Better.

Content.

Safe.

They walked up the stairs and Link told Harry about what he knew of Saria and his worries.

"She is a Sage you know. Saria," Harry said.

"Yeah?" Link looked at the raven. He'd tilted his head slightly.

Harry nodded and changed the subject. He wasn't ready to tell Link exactly what being a Sage meant yet. "There is a song I should teach you," he removed his violin and bow from their pouch. He placed the instrument against his chin and smiled at the blonde's shocked expression. "You didn't think I would stay without an instrument forever did you," he said teasingly. "This is the Minuet of the Forest." He started playing the wonderful melody. It reminded him of the Kokiri Forest of Link and Saria. How he had first gotten here and how his life had changed for the better.

Link stood there amazed at his friend's ability with the stringed instrument. _'He's changed so much,'_ he though.

Harry looked so serene standing there moving the bow over strings. The raven looked up at him. He lost himself in those emerald pools. They were older – wiser – happier even.

"Aren't you going to join Link," Harry asked after a while. The amusement was clear in his voice.

Link blinked. Then his eyes widened as he realised what he'd been doing. A fait blush spread over creamy cheeks. "Sorry," he said. He took out the Ocarina of Time and soon the two were playing in harmony. The tunes were gathering forest wisps around them.

"Come on Link. We'll never find Saria at this pace." Harry's voice drifted through the content haze in the blonde's head.

"Huh," Link opened his eyes but Harry was gone "Harry!" he called.

"Up here you moron," Harry snickered.

Link turned around. Up on a ledge before a dark opening, Harry sat and dangled his legs. He was smiling widely at the blond.

_'__How did he get up there?'_ Link wondered. The he noticed the dead tree with a branch hanging out over the ledge.

He pulled out his hookshot.

Aimed and fired.

"Let go you stupid thing," he muttered before turning around in the air and placing his feet against the branch.

Thud!

Link hit the ground as the hook let go. "Stupid thing," he muttered as he got back up. He grabbed a hold of the raven's hand as he tried his best to ignore the laughter flowing from the smaller teen.

They walked in to the Forest Temple.

Two huge trees grew on either side of the small room they had entered. _'How can something grow in here,'_ Link thought. _'There's no sun.'_

Straight ahead of them there was a small wooden door with a stained glass centre. Link looked around. He was wondering who had actually built the temple. What had the royal family done?

Hired an architect?

"Hey we want you to build a temple in the middle of a forest. Sounds good doesn't it? Yeah make the doors with stained glass that's great! And we want four torches to be the elevator mechanism so that if you put them out there is no way to get down to the shrine. Oh, and lock **some** of the doors in there. No we don't want the keys put them in chests inside the temple," Link was muttering as he and Harry proceeded through the temple. He wondered if it had been the architect or the contractors who thought it had been a good idea to create the twisted corridors.

Those were really creepy.

He shuddered.

Harry on the other hand had a hard time not laughing at his friend's antics. The blond really was complaining a lot. He hadn't even mentioned the bubbles or wallmaster yet. The raven guessed it was just a matter of time before that happened, though.

They had entered a circular room with a big hole in the middle.

"What are we supposed to do here then," Link sighed.

Harry snorted. "Oh, I don't know. What about killing the stalfos standing behind you before it slashes you in half," he said sarcastically.

Link blinked and turned around. "Shit," he jumped back and readied his weapons.

_'__Oh Din, give me strength,'_ Harry thought. He pulled a sai out with his left hand and raised the other. A flash of green left his palm.

Slash!

Link was startled. _'What just happened,'_ he thought. Harry had been standing only a few feet away a moment ago and now he was behind the stalfos.

Crackle.

The monster burned.

"How did yo…" Link started asking. He was interrupted by the centrepiece of the floor returning to its place. There were two more stalfos on it. "So left or right," he asked the raven.

Harry looked at Link. Shook his head and said. "I'll take the right one." He moved forward again, too fast for Link to see.

Thud!

The stalfos didn't disappear.

_'__That's strange,'_ Harry thought. He looked up and saw Link deflecting a sword hit with his shield. The blond quickly spun to the left and slashed at the skeletons unprotected side. Then again and again.

Crack, crack!

Harry looked down. "Shit," he exclaimed and did a backflip. His stalfos had just stood back up. _'O.K. so now what,'_ he thought. Link had just defeated the other monster. He moved forward and cut at the skeleton's spine as the blond came up behind it. His sword was glowing in an eerie orange colour. He attacked the stalfos' unprotected back.

Sizzle. The skeleton melted were the sword hit it and the two monsters disappeared. In the middle of the room a chest appeared. Link walked over and pulled out a bow and quiver. "Well this is practical," he said.

"Maybe you can shoot the ghost paintings with that," Harry suggested. He walked up to the blond.

"You doing O.K." he asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Link looked confused. Shouldn't he be alright? He didn't get it.

Harry rolled his eyes. _'Trust Link not to even understand why I'm asking,' _he thought.

"You've been asleep for years," he smirked. "Just wondered if you hadn't rusted a bit that's all," he teased.

Link stuck his tongue out at him and turned around. He opened one of the doors. "This is not the way we came from," he stated before he walked inside.

Harry sighed and went to follow the blond.

Link had his bow out and was shooting at the portraits. Apparently that worked. "There is a locked door up here," he called down. "You wouldn't happen to have a key would you?" he asked before he came running back down as a blue ghost floated out of the wall.

"No I don't have a key. We used the last one back after I saved you from the wallmaster," Harry informed him.

"Oh, I guess that means we'll need to find a key, yay, lovely," Link said with a grimace. He turned towards the ghost. _'So how do you kill something that is supposed to be dead and isn't solid?' _he wondered. The ghost went up in flames. _'You bring a magic user with you of course. Hadn't thought of that.'_ Link chuckled softly.

"Compass," Harry said and threw it over.

Link caught the blue object and placed it on top of the map. They glowed for a moment before several chests appeared on the paper. He studied the temple. They had missed several chests in past rooms. "So we should probably go back," he said and pointed at the chests.

"You don't think," Harry rolled his eyes. "There was a ghost portrait in the room before the stalfos," he said.

"Well yeah," Link looked put out.

…

Shoot the orange.

Puzzle the green.

Defeat the annoying purple that just would not stand still and kept making copies of itself.

The room before the boss was irritating. They had to move the walls around.

From red to white.

From white to blue.

"How many times do we need to push this stupid thing?" Link whined. He was getting tired. How was he supposed to defeat the boss if he'd tired himself out by moving stupid walls around?

Harry snorted. "Stop whining we can always rest before the boss or I could deal with it if you're feeling pathetic," he said.

Link gave him a hurt look. "I'm not pathetic," he grumbled.

Harry bit his lip in amusement. He walked over to the grumpy blond, reached out and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. Running his hands down the taller teen's back he asked, "Do you want a massage."

"Yes please," Link moaned. _'Goddesses that feels good,' _he thought.

Harry let go of the blond and sat down on the red carpet leaning against the wall. He patted the space between his legs. The blond joined him and crossed his legs. Harry ran his hands down his friend's back kneading as he went.

"Feels so good," Link whimpered as the raven found a really nasty knot.

Harry just smiled. If Link knew what those sounds did to certain parts of his anatomy. Well… Harry doubted that he would be making them. "You remember that I told you about Saria being a Sage?" he asked after a while.

"Yeah, I remember," Link said softly.

"Well being a Sage means that she will have to stay in the Sacred Realm after we have awakened her." Harry didn't like having to tell his best friend that they would never see the green haired girl again after this.

"You mean she can't leave," Link sounded sad.

"No."

Link turned to look at his friend. The green eyes were clouded in unshed tears. He moved so that his head was resting on the raven's shoulder. _'We'll never see Saria again,'_ he took Harry's left hand in his own. He didn't notice as tears started trailing down his face landing on their joined hands. Harry buried his face in the blond locks. They sat there taking comfort in each other.

"Link," Harry shook his friend's shoulder. "Wake up Link we need to save Saria," he whispered.

"I'm up," Link murmured.

Harry laughed. "Yeah I can see that," he chuckled. "Come on Link up you go," The raven had managed to stand up and was currently tugging at the blond.

"O.K. O.K. I'm getting up jeez," Link said still at least partly asleep. He stood up and rubbed his eyes. The nap had been good. He felt much better now. "So boss fight right?"

"Yeah, boss fight."

"He's ugly," Link stated after Phantom Ganon had appeared. The horse and rider had taken off into one of the paintings, though, so they would have to wait for them to come back.

"Poor horse," Harry said and Link nodded. He looked around. The walls were covered with paintings. They all looked the same: a lone road leading up to a structure of some sort. Dead trees and yellowing grass lined the path. They were really depressing to look at.

"Link! Behind you!" Harry called out.

Link spun readied his bow and fired an arrow. "So he comes out off the paintings and I have to shoot him. That doesn't seem all that difficult," he said with confidence. He spoke a bit too soon.

The next time Phantom Ganon showed up there were more than one of them.

"Which one do I shoot?" Link asked.

He spun around.

One of the Ganons turned his horse.

The other galloped out of its painting. Link shot it.

The horse turned around and sprinted of leaving its rider behind.

Ganon was floating now. He raised his trident high and fired off an energy ball.

Harry pushed Link out off the way. "Let me handle this," he said with a smirk. He lifted his hands as the ball came sailing towards him. He caught it and the yellow orb pulsed. Then it slowly turned green as it decreased in size. He grinned. "You can have this back now," he called to the phantom before throwing the dark orb back.

It hit the boss with a loud crackle. The fake Ganon screamed the dark green light spreading in arcs over his body.

He convulsed and fell to the floor.

"Hit him Link."

The blond ran forward and raised his sword. The blade glowed blue. He cut it straight through the man's armour deep into the fake body.

There was a high-pitched yelp and Phantom Ganon was no more.

"Hey kid, you did quite well... It looks like you may be gaining some slight skill. But you have defeated only my phantom. When you fight the real me, it won't be so easy!"

"What a worthless creation that ghost was! I will banish it to the gap between dimensions!" Ganondrof's voice could be heard bouncing of the walls long after the phantom had turned to dust and vanished.

"You O.K?" Link asked the panting raven.

"Yeah just give me a second to catch my breath."

Link rummaged through his pouches. He pulled out a bottle of milk. "Want some milk?" he asked.

"Eh, sure," Harry said accepting the bottle. He pulled the cork and raised it to his mouth. "Yuck," he exclaimed. "Link when did you get this milk?"

"At the Lon Lon Ranch back when we split up remember," Link answered.

Harry stared at him "Are you trying to kill me Link? This milk is like seven years old. Milk doesn't stay fresh for that long!"

Link looked sheepish. "Sorry," he whispered.

Harry sighed. He couldn't stay angry at the blond. He pocketed the bottle determined to clean it out. **Thoroughly** later.

"So last time we meet Saria," Link said gloomily.

Harry nodded. He walked up to the blond and grabbed his hand. The two teens entered the blue light which had appeared in the centre of the room. Crystal enveloped them. For a moment all they could see was blue light.

When it faded they were standing in the Camber of the Sages. Cyan blue water poured down from the sky and covered the many platforms in the vast space. There were no walls or boundaries. Beneath their feet the Triforce shone faintly. In front of them the symbol of the Forest Temple started glowing brightly.

Saria emerged from the green depths. "Thank you. Because of you, I could awaken as a Sage. I am Saria the Sage of the Forest Temple. I always believed that you would come because I know you," she said.

"Saria I…"

"No. You don't have to explain it to me, because it is destiny that you and I can't live in the same world," Saria interrupted him.

"That's bullshit," Link said angrily.

Saria just shook her head. "I will stay here as the Forest Sage and help you Link, Harry please accept this. It's necessary."

Harry reached out and pulled Link closer to him. "She's right Link. I'm sorry," he whispered in the blonde's ear.

"Now, please take this Medallion," Saria held out a green rondure with the forest symbol etched on its surface.

Harry reached out. "Thank you Saria," he said.

The blue light returned and they were transported out off the chamber.

Saria's voice followed them, "I will always be your friend…"

They landed in front of the dead Great Deku Tree.

Link wiped his tears away. He turned around to look at his friend with a determined face. "So where to now," he asked. Not wanting to think about how much he would miss Saria.

"We need to…"

"Hi there! I'm the Deku Tree sprout!"

Link turned around. A weird round plant was standing behind him.

"Because you and Saria broke the curse on the Forest Temple, I can grow and flourish!" it said.

Link just gaped. _'What?'_ he thought.

The Deku Tree sprout then proceeded to explain how come Link had ended up in the Kokiri Forest even though he was a Hylian.

It finished by saying "You are a Hylian, and were always bound to leave this forest. And now... You have learned your own destiny. So you know what you must do."

Link rolled his eyes. "Yeah save the world," he said sarcastically.

The sprout didn't seem to pick up on his tone, though. He just continued talking, "That's right! You must save the land of Hyrule! Now, Link, break the curses on all of the Temples, and return peace to Hyrule!"

…

"So Mom took me to the Kokiri Forest," Link looked at Harry.

"It would seem that way," the raven responded.

"I wonder who my father was," the blond looked up at the night sky.

Harry reached out and placed a comforting arm over his friend's shoulders. He gave a light squeeze. He and Link were the same in many ways this was just another one of those. No parents. He wondered if his own mother and father really had died in that car crash like the Dursleys had told him or if it had been something a bit more magical involved. A green flash came to mind.

"Hey girl," Link said as they walked out on Hyrule Field. Epona rubbed her muzzle against his cheek.

Then she looked up at Harry studying the raven for a moment. "Hey beautiful," he said and reached out towards her slowly. She sniffed at him before she snorted.

"Epona doesn't like strangers very much," Link said apologetically.

Harry just shrugged. "Can't blame her for that," he said. He placed his thumb and forefinger to his lips and let out a long clear whistle.

In the distance they could soon hear hooves against the firm ground. A big black horse, with a strange white star pattern on his forehead, came galloping up to them. "This is Seidan he and I have been travelling together for a long time now," the raven said and patted the horse's muzzle fondly.

Link smiled. _'Well that's good now we can both ride,_' he thought. He looked around. He hadn't given himself all that much time to do so earlier because he'd been so worried about Saria. In the distance it looked as if the sky had been set on fire. "Harry is that Death Mountain?" he asked.

Harry turned to look. "Yes that's the mountain," he answered.

"Why is it on fire?"

"Probably has something to do with the Fire Temple."

"I guess well go there next then," Link yawned.

"Yeah after we've gotten some sleep," Harry smiled as he pulled some blankets out off his saddle bag.

Link chuckled.


	11. A Hot Day in Hell

**A Hot Day in Hell**

_'A volcano. This is crazy. Why would they build a temple inside a volcano?_' Link pondered. It was like the rocks which had been rolling down from the crater **insane**. _'Bloody annoying things they were,'_ he thought. He still had a ringing headache from the talk he had with the Goron kid, Link, and therefore wasn't in the best of moods right now.

Next to him Harry was brushing ash off his shoulders. The raven looked up. _'Zelda should be meeting us here,'_ he thought.

"So how do we get over here then," Link said irritably.

Harry looked down. In front of them the bridge had collapsed or burned, which was very likely considering the high amount of lava, leaving a big gap. He tilted his head. Took a few steps back,

ran and somersaulted over the gap.

"Show off," Link muttered. He started digging in one of his belt pouches. He was glad that the raven had done some weird magic to them. The pouches were now feather-light and expanded. He stuck his arm further into the pouch. But it was much harder to find things in them.

On the other side of the gap Harry had gone ahead some. He'd glimpsed Zelda as Sheik just a moment ago. _'Come on Link what's taking you so long,'_ he thought. He walked back, turned a corner and looked up. There stood Link still on the far side of the gap with his arm elbow deep in a pouch. Harry couldn't help but laugh.

Link looked up. "Where did you get air from?" he asked rudely.

"Oh who knows," Harry answered amused. He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the poles holding the bridge up. "You really match the scenery you know." He ran a hand though his unruly fringe. "I hope they give you a nice purple tunic for the ShadowTemple it would look so good with your blond hair," he said teasingly.

Link narrowed his eyes at the raven. He finally pulled out the hookshot with an, "Ahaa," and used it to get across the gap. He walked up to the raven and grabbed him.

Hysteric laughter.

"Do you yield," Link asked the tear-eyed raven as he tickled the smaller teen.

"Aaah, yes, yes I yield," Harry managed to choke out.

"Good. There will be no purple tunics for me!"

"No, no purple tunic I swear," the raven tried to look innocent.

"Hmph." Link stood up and let the other teen go.

"You would look really cute in pink though," Harry said when he was back on his feet.

Link tried and failed to get a hold of the raven once more. He ran after the other teen determined to tickle him to death this time when…

"It is something that grows over time…"

Link jumped slightly. Sheik was standing only a few feet away from him. _'How did he get there,'_ he wondered startled.

"A true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time. The passion will soon blossom into a righteous power, and through it, you will know which way to go," the Sheikah said.

Harry had walked back over to his friend and reached out. He clutched the blonde's hand in his own.

Link shifted. He looked over at the raven. Harry appeared to be deep in thought. He ran his thumb along the back of the smaller teen's hand.

Harry blinked. He smiled at Link and withdrew his hand as Sheik said, "This song is dedicated to the power of the heart… Listen to the Bolero of Fire…" The sheikah pull out his golden lyre and placed his fingers at the strings.

Harry who had taken out his violin placed the bow against the strings.

Together Sheik and Harry played the bolero for Link. The blond soon joined them and the tones echoed throughout the vast volcano. He lowered his ocarina as they finished.

"Link… I'll see you again," Sheik said before he disappeared in the flash of a Deku nut.

"Well he's just getting stranger and stranger," the blond said. He turned to Harry. "Do you know him by any chance?" he asked curiously.

"Mmh, yeah we trained together," the raven answered. He was contemplating telling Link that this Sheik was actually Zelda, but he wasn't sure that it was safe. _'As soon as we find a safe place I'll tell him,'_ he decided. He didn't like keeping secrets from Link.

* * *

><p>"It's so hot in here," Link whined. He turned to Harry. "I don't get how you can walk around with that much clothes on," he said.<p>

Harry blinked. He was walking around with the same outfit he had worn when Link and he first met: black pants and tunic and the white scapular on top of that. He looked over at Link. The blond had stuck his red floppy cap in his belt and was sweating something awful. "Oh, why didn't you say something earlier? I though the tunic dealt with the heat," he said surprised.

Link just grunted and shot him a miserable look.

"Here I'll fix it," the raven flicked his hand and all of a sudden Link felt a cold breeze blow though his clothes. "Aah, much better," he sighed.

They had been travelling though the Fire Temple for quite some time now. The teens had met Darunia as they first entered the temple, but he had gone off to try and fight the boss almost right away. He did ask them to save his people first, though.

And that was what they had been doing since. Freeing one Goron after another. Every Goron they had freed so far had offered them some sort of advice which was both helpful and nice of them.

Link picked up yet another key. He grumbled.

"Don't you start again," Harry warned. "I know these places don't make sense. Can't we just leave it at that?"

The blond looked up. He huffed and pocketed the stupid key. He brought out the dungeon map and studied it for a moment. "That way," he directed.

"Oh no, not this room again," the blond moaned.

The room in question was lava filled with nice gridded platforms that swayed when you walked or ran across them. That wasn't what had the blond so frustrated though. No, what was bothering the taller of the teens was that a wall of fire started chasing you as soon as you sat foot on a grid.

"You know what," Harry said. "I have an idea." The raven jumped down on and the fire appeared. He held out a hand. A greyish light materialized around him. The flames licked at the shield but they didn't touch the teen. He smiled up at Link. The blond simply shook his head with a huff. He jumped down and they strolled across the grids to the next locked door.

"You can see down from here," Navi said. The teens looked over at her. "Isn't that the room where we saw Darunia?" the fairy asked.

Link walked over to her. "Yeah that looks like it," he said. He turned and studied the big stone structure next to them. "The Goron did say we would need to lower the pillar hanging from the sealing didn't he?" he motioned to the thing.

Harry made a sound to the affirmative. "So whereto now?" he asked Link.

The blond looked took out the map. He rotated it a couple of times. "We haven't been there or there," he pointed in the directions of two doors.

"Fire," Harry called out and pulled Link back.

The blond stumbled. "Huh."

Harry rolled his eyes "We need to get there, yes?" he indicated to a solid wall of fire.

Link looked down at the map "Yeah."

Harry grabbed the blond by his elbow and proceeded to drag him straight though the flame walls that kept appearing. His magic was protecting them as they went.

"Oh, fake door," Link bounced in excitement. He pulled out a bomb and placed it down.

BOOM!

"Really Link?" Harry looked at his giddy friend. He rolled his eyes.

"What?" Link stuck his tongue out at the raven childishly. "It's fun."

Harry sighed. He had forgotten that Link technically was a ten-year-old in a seventeen-year-old's body.

…

"IT'S A HAMMER!" Link shouted. He had killed the burning keese and walked up to the chest in the huge room while Harry had waited by the button which removed the flames circling the chest.

"So smash, smash," Link said and indicated to the weird face rock on the floor.

"Yeah sure go ahead," Harry smiled at him.

BANG!

Jump.

Slash.

BANG!

"Shit." The floor Harry was standing on started moving. He fell as it locked in place again. Standing back up and looking over at Link he called "Could you please try to think before you act."

A muffled sorry was his reply.

The raven looked around. "You better bring one of the boxes with you unless you'd like to leave me behind," he called.

There was a lot of grumbling but Link did carry a box when he landed next to the raven. He placed it on the switch and the bars blocking their way forward disappeared.

Another bang and they were back in the room above the boss door. Link hit the pillar.

"There done now all we need is a key," Link's expression changed into one of confusion.

"What is it Link," Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's just. How did Darunia enter the boss room without the key?" he asked.

Harry stopped.

"I mean the door was locked after he had entered," the blond scratcher his head. It was a mystery. He shook his head and the two continued. There was no point in mulling over questions they would probably never get the answer to.

They eventually made their way back to the temple entrance which held the only rooms they had yet to entre.

…

"So there, now we have the boss key," Link said proudly as the last Goron made his way back to Goron's Cavern. They followed the Goron out off the corridor.

"Keese," Harry drew a sai and pierced the burning bat. He then sent a bolt of magic at the other bat-like creature. "There that's them taken care off," he brushed his hands together.

Link walked up to the first door they had entered and opened it once more.

If the rest of the temple had been hot he boss room was boiling. The two teens jumped over to the platform standing before the boss' island.

"So, more lava that's nice, right?" Link said sarcastically. He jumped and Harry followed.

Rumble!

"Harry."

"Yeah."

"That's one gigantic serpent."

"Ahah."

They stared at the Subterranean Lava Dragon which was currently diving into a small pool of lava on the island.

Zant poked his head out off Harry's neckline and looked around. **_"What is going on Master?" _**he asked. Something about this place was strange.

Harry looked down. He smiled at his familiar. **_"Hey Zant. We're going to fight the boss now. It's a dragon,"_** he informed the serpent.

_'A dragon,'_ the serpent thought that would explain why he felt an odd tug in here.

"Eh, Harry," Link's voice was uncertain, "you have a snake around your neck."

"Yes Link I know," Harry smiled at his friend's shocked expression. "He is my familiar Zant," he tilted his head.

The dragon shot out off one of the many holes on the island.

**_"Why are you so angry my lady?" _**Zant asked her. She was beautiful. And highly powerful.

**_"Who are you to dare disturb my slumber,"_** the she-dragon roared. She didn't like visitors on a good day and today hadn't been good.

Harry turned around surprised. **_"My lady we apologize for disturbing you but the Sage of the temple needs to be awakened," _**he said. The raven took a deep breath and walked forward. He stopped right in front the fiery dragon. **_"We have no wish to disturb your rest my lady. But a great evil is spreading across Hyrule and it needs to be stopped," _**he bowed his head.

The dragon studied the small two-legs for a moment. She was contemplating whether she should just eat him and the other one or not. Then she scented one of her own kind.

Zant rose from his position around the raven's shoulders. **_"My Lady, please do not harm my human," _**the little serpent pleaded.

The dragon blinked.**_ "Little glow do not fear," _**the she reassured Zant. She studied the two-legs closer. He had power this little one. She could sense it. **_"I will not harm him," _**she shifted her head **_"Little human would you help me. The evil you speak of came here and woke me. I would appreciate it if you would allow me to return to my rest."_**

Harry studied her. There was magic at work here he realised. The majestic fire dragon had died several centuries ago. Only Ganondorf's magic was currently keeping her here. **_"I can and will help you my lady," _**he said. Stepping forward, he lifted his hands and slowly he untangled the corrupted magic holding her.

**_"Good night great one," _**Zant hissed softly.

There was no reply. She was gone from the cave once more. There would be no further need for the Gorons to worry.

Saddened Harry stepped back. He bumped in to Link and turned around burying his head in the blonde's tunic.

Link wrapped his arms around his raven friend. He didn't quite understand what had happened but hopefully Harry would explain once he had calmed down. The blond lead them over to the blue light which had appeared in the centre of the island.

They were back in the Chamber of the Sages. This time they were facing the fire emblem. A soft glow appeared and Darunia soon stood before them. "Thank you, Brothers! I really appreciate what you did. I thank you on behalf of the entire Goron race!" he said with a smile. Then he looked Link in the eyes as he said, "You turned out to be a real man, just as I thought you would!" he looked proud.

"Yeah I guess," Link said sheepishly. He took a firmer hold of his saddened friend and started running a hand over his back.

Then Darunia spoke once more. "By the way, I, the wild Darunia, turned out to be the great Sage of Fire," he chuckled. "Isn't that funny, Brother? Well, this must be what they call destiny. Nothing has made me happier than helping you seal the evil here!"

Link bowed his head. "I simply did not wish for your people to suffer," he said.

Darunia nodded then as an afterthought he added, "Hey, Brother, take this! This is a Medallion that contains the power of the fire spirits–and my friendship." Darunia held out a big red coin with the fire emblem etched into it.

Link accepted the coin and the two teen were transported out. As they left they could hear the whisper of Darunia's voice, "Don't forget… Now you and I are true Brothers."

Link sat down with Harry on the warp pad after they were back in the crater of the volcano.

"Harry what's wrong," he asked softly running his thumb down the raven cheek.

Harry looked up at the concerned blond. He wiped a tear away. "She died," he said. "Ganondorf brought her back to life and forced her to guard the corruption of the Fire Temple." He rubbed his eyes and ran his hands though raven locks.

Zant poked his head out again. **_"Don't be sad Master," _**he hissed and flicked his tongue over the raven's cheek. **_"She rests once more. The Lady is at ease now."_**

Harry reached up and scratched his familiar's head. **_"Thank you Zant," _**he said with a sad smile. Beside him Link shifted uncomfortably. He turned his head. The blond was watching his serpent with wary eyes. He snorted. "He isn't going to hurt you Link. Zant is my familiar. He would never hurt my friends… unless you plan on trying to kill me in my sleep of course. He'd bite you if you tried that," his soft voice had obtained a touch of humour as he finished speaking.

Link blinked. "Of course I'm not going to try and kill you, stupid," he reached out slowly. "Hey little one," he said somewhat nervous as he petted the serpent.

**_"The funny two-legs is afraid of me Master," _**Zant hissed fascinated.

**_"Yes it seems like he is Zant. He'll get over it… eventually," _**Harry smirked.

"You can speak to him," Link looked at the raven.

Harry merely raised an eyebrow and smiled at him. "Let's get out off here," he said and stood up. He pulled Link off the ground and the two made their way back over the broken bridge.

"Can't we go this way instead?" Link asked before they entered Darunia's room.

Harry turned to look at the path Link wanted to take. He shrugged "Yeah sure."

The path led over another bride, whole this time.

Link pulled his megaton hammer and smashed the boulders blocking their path. He grabbed the raven by the elbow and pulled him along. "This is a fairy fountain," he stated once they could see again.

"Really Link you didn't have to drag me," Harry looked around the room. He'd never been inside a fairy fountain before. There was a very high amount of water for a room connected to a volcano. It was pouring down the walls and the two fires burning made the water droplets glitter as they fell.

Link walked up to the fountain and raised his ocarina. Zelda's Lullaby echoed in the small room and out if the fountain a woman appeared. She was laughing loudly. "Welcome Link! I am the Great Fairy of Wisdom!" she said.

Harry looked at her with a pained expression. He didn't mind the deep pink hair or the fact that she only wore ivy and high boots, but her voice was killing him. He closed his eyes and tried to rid his ears of the ringing sound.

When he opened them again a bright green light was surrounding Link. It faded slowly.

"When battle has made you weary, please come back and see me," the fairy disappeared with a shrill laugh.

"Please say I never have to meet one of them again," Harry begged the blond as they left the room.

Link laughed.

_'At least his laughter doesn't sound like someone trying to cut rock with a sword's blade,'_ the raven though.

They climbed up a ladder.

"Finally we get out off here," Link cried and ran up the stairs. They were on top of Death Mountain. It was the same area that Link had travelled to in his youth in order to have his very first Great Fairy encounter. "I really don't feel like climbing down that," he sighed and pointed down the cliff face.

The raven walked up to him. He looked down and tilted his head. "We can always play the Prelude of Light and warp to the Temple of Time," he said.

"Yes please," Link exclaimed.

Harry laughed and withdrew his violin. He ran the bow over the strings and watched as Link readied his ocarina. Harry guided his friend though the serene song. A yellow glow enveloped them and as the light faded they stood in the empty halls of the Temple of Time.

Link ran a hand though his hair. He looked over at Harry "Maybe we should get some rest for a while. Go and see Malon at Lon Lon," he suggested.

Harry met his gaze. "Yea, that would be nice," his eyes still held that deep sadness he had picked up in the fire temple's boss chamber.

Link held out his hand for the raven to take, and the two started walking. The Redeads in the town's square were easily taken care of with the Sun's Song.

"There is some kind of weird ghost loving guy living in there now," Link pointed at the house located just before the drawbridge. Only there was no bridge anymore. It had been destroyed.

The tones of Epona's Song brought both of their horses to them.

Link laughed. "Think they like each other, huh," he looked over at Harry. He saw an emotion he couldn't quite recognise flitter over his friend face before the raven smiled at him. The smile didn't reach his eyes, though. Link was both concerned and confused at Harry's behaviour. This wasn't the first time either. There had been a strange look on the other teen's face when he thought the blond wasn't looking before. Link shrugged. He'd figure it out eventually.

They mounted their horses and trotted off.

Night fell as they reached the ranch.

They rigged Harry's tent up by the paddock.

Sleep quickly found them as they lay down.

…

The next morning was announced by a cucco.

Malon was standing by the now open gate to the paddock.

Link walked over with Epona following closely behind him. "Hey Malon," he called to the girl.

"Hey you, thank you very much for the other day," Malon smiled brightly.

"Oh, that's nothing," Link waved her off. "I couldn't let that man treat the horses that way."

She giggled and shook her head. "I haven't even asked you your name yet…" she said and tilted her head.

"I'm Link," the blond bit his lip expectantly.

"Really? Link!" she sounded happy.

"Yeah."

"That's what I thought! You're the fairy boy from the forest! That was years ago! Do you remember me?" she said all this very rapidly.

"Yeah of course I do," Link smiled at her. Epona bumped her muzzle against his shoulder. He turned slightly to pet her.

"You do? I was sure it was you because Epona remembered you!" she had walked forward and was now stroking Epona's mane. "Oh, I have to tell you about Mr Ingo," she said. "He was afraid that the Evil King might find out that Epona had been taken away…"

Link snorted. Like he cared.

"It really upset him!"

She seemed to actually care about how the stupid man felt. Link couldn't understand why. "But one day, all of a sudden, he went back to being a normal, nice person!" she moved closer to the blond. "I can't believe it, but peace is returning to this ranch! It's all because off you!" she was really close now. Link could smell her hair, it was flowery. "I owe you so much," she whispered in his ear. She reached out and ran a hand down his back. A lock of orange hair had fallen down over her face and she brushed it aside. She looked up at him.

"Eh," Link said uncomfortably.

The sound of a horse galloping off had him looking up.

The tent was gone.

And Seidan.

_'Harry!'_ he thought.

* * *

><p>Harry had woken up after Link. The blond was gone when he opened his eyes.<p>

He got up and packed everything away. Then he looked around. _'Where is Link?'_ he wondered.

There, the blond was standing with Epona and Malon. They were talking about something.

He started making his way over. _'Does she need to stand so close?'_ he though. The raven didn't like it – Malon standing so close to HIS Link.

The girl leaned in closer. She touched the blond.

**_"Master calm," _**Zant hissed from his shoulders.

Harry stopped. His magic was acting up, fuelled by his emotions.

He couldn't stay here. If Link wanted to be with Malon he wouldn't stop them.

He mounted Seidan and took off fast.

…

It wasn't until he had reached Gerudo Valley that he dismounted and allowed his magic to run free. It crackled around him. Destroying rocks and leaving deep gashes in the mountain side.

_'I'm so stupid,'_ he though once he'd calmed down some. _'Link is still what? Like ten. It's not as if he'd understand what Malon wants when she acts like that,'_ he pulled the ribbon that held his plait in place away. The raven hair fanned out in the wind. It was cold almost to the point of freezing. He didn't care though. His magic would keep him warm. _'How am I supposed to explain this to Link?'_

"Oh sorry I ran off but I sorta didn't like Malon fawning over you," he snorted _'Yeah, that would go over well.'_

**_"Master are you alright?" _**Zant asked worriedly. He knew that his Master liked the forest boy.

Harry smiled softly. **_"Yeah Zant I'm O.K. thank you for making certain I didn't do anything stupid." _**He sat down on the edge of one of the cliff sides of the canyon, dangling his legs, and sighed. **_"I love him but how can I, argg," _**he rubbed his templates in frustration. **_"He's just a kid. He might look seventeen but,"_** he let out another sigh.

Zant looked at his master for a moment. He couldn't quite understand what the problem was. If his master wanted the forest two-legs as his nest-mate then why didn't he just tell the guy?

_'But master said that the forest one was just a kid a hatchling,' _the snake thought about it for a moment. The entire concept was weird. The guy didn't smell like a hatchling.

Harry sat there as the sun set behind the mountains. He watched the water in the river far below them until all he could see was darkness. He'd have to somehow explain things to Link. It probably wouldn't go very well but he'd have to.

Harry stood up. Sheik or rather Zelda would meet Link after he'd obtained the boots needed to handle the Water Temple. She was going to teach him the warp song. So Harry might as well what for the blond at the temple.

He mounted Seidan.

They trotted off in the distance.


	12. Frozen Fins

**Frozen Fins**

Link took off after the raven. When he reached Hyrule Field, however, Harry was nowhere to be seen. He looked to the ground in hopes of finding some sort of clue as to where his friend had gone to. _'Why did he disappear like that?'_ he bit his lip.

"An arctic wind is blowing from Zora's River," Navi sounded worried. "Do you feel it?" she asked the blond.

Link looked up at her.

Then he felt it too.

The air was cold.

He shuddered. He didn't want to go without Harry but… _'He can catch up with me,'_ the blond thought. Not realising that there should be no way the raven could actually know where he'd gone to.

Zora's River pretty much looked the same. The tree which had stood by the brick wall was gone and the cucco wasn't there anymore. He drew his bow-string and released an arrow at the annoying octorok.

_'__Well the octorok population seems to flourish,'_ Link thought as he killed another purple monster. The waters of Zora's River were full of them. In the end he simply decided to run rather than try to fight all the molluscs. As he came closer to Zora's Domain, it started snowing. He stared at the tiny white flakes in wonder. It never snowed in Kokiri Forest so he'd never seen the stuff before. It was getting a bit chilly though. Link wondered if Harry could create heat the same way he'd done the cold inside the volcano. When he was about to ask, however, he remembered that the raven wasn't there.

He sighed and jumped before the waterfall started pouring down again.

Zora's Domain was frozen. Like solid ice.

Link could see Zoras down there. Stuck beneath the ice. He walked up the stairs to the King's chamber. The Zora King was frozen as well but the ice was weird. It was almost warm to the touch and a deep red colour. Not until he started heading for Zora's Fountain did he encounter water once more. It soaked his boots and splashed up on his thighs as he ran.

Link shivered. _'So cold,'_ he thought miserably.

On the far side cliff-face there was a cave opening. Link remembered seeing it when he was here as a child. But there had been no way to reach it then. Now, however, small ice floes were scattered over the water in the pond. Link started jumping from floe to floe.

An octorok stuck its head up and shot a rock at him. The blond almost fell on the slippery ice as he returned the projectile with his shield.

Jump.

Jump.

Slip. "Damn It."

Jump.

Link was relieved when he'd finally made it across.

…

Tchic, tchic!

An icicle dropped down right next to the cold teen. He looked up. The stupid ceiling was full of sharp ice. _'Oh, how fun I can get pierced,'_ Link thought sarcastically. He continued down the iced path.

_'__What is that sound,'_ he wondered. It sounded almost like wind blowing.

"That's a freezard," Navi informed him as he turned a corner. "Watch out for its freezing breath! Destroy it completely before it revives."

Link looked at the monsters for a moment. _'How to kill them?'_ he contemplated. Then he smiled madly. He picked out his bomb bag and removed an explosive ball. Lighting the fuse, he cast the bomb over to the freezing monsters.

BOOM!

"Hihihihi," the blond was giggling.

He threw another bomb.

BOOM!

BOOM!

It took two direct hits to kill a freezard. When the three before him were no more, Link walked forward. Out off nowhere another freezard showed up almost hitting him with its frosty breath. He drew his sword and slashed at it.

Once it was dead, the path before the blond opened.

The next room had a dual giant spinning blade in the centre.

Link whimpered. "Why do I have to do this," he whined.

There were several silver rupees suspended in the air around the room. The first time the blond grabbed one he almost got hit by the blade as he jumped in fright– the rupee had made a clinging sound and disappeared. On top of that the stupid pots in the room had it out for him. They lifted from the ground and attacked the blond if he got to close.

Collecting all the silver rupees removed a set of bars.

BOOM! BOOM! Another dead freezard.

He avoided the blade traps and walked into a huge room with blue keese in it and a strange blue…was that fire?

He climbed up on a ledge, threw another two bombs and jumped.

"This blue fire… it doesn't seem natural. Maybe you can use it for something. But how could you carry it?" Navi said as he approached the strangely cold fire.

_'__That's just my luck even the fire is cold in this place.'_ Link studied the flames for a moment. Then he removed a bottle from a pouch. _'I'm glad Harry gave me these before he disappeared,'_ the blond thought. Though, he'd rather have Harry here right now than any amount of bottles.

After he'd filled his bottles he jumped over to a block of red ice and poured the flames out. The ice melted revealing a treasure chest. He opened it and was rewarded with a dungeon map.

At least he now knew how big the place was.

…

_'__Stupid room,'_ Link hated puzzles. He never wanted to see another silver rupee again. He kept muttering as he walked.

The first door in the dungeon was now before him. It had a beautiful snowflake pattern. He touched it. "Ouch," Link pulled his hand back. The ice burned it was so cold. He reached out again and pushed the door open and walked in.

The room he walked into was filled with icicles and ice crystals. He looked around. There seemed to be nothing in here but snow and ice. He bumped into something soft.

It moved.

What Link had first thought was a pile of snow turned out to be a white wolfos.

It roared.

Slash!

Link jumped out off the wolf's way. He readied his sword and circled the beast.

Crash!

The blond hit ice. He spun quickly. Raising his sword once more, he sprinted forward.

Slash!

"Aargg." He had hit the wolfos but the beast had managed to catch his arm in its jaws. Link took a shaky breath and pulled.

He bit back a scream. Blood gushed out off the wound. He turned to the wolfos once more focused on the power currents between his arm and sword and as the blade glowed orange he thrust it forward. He buried the blade deep within the beast's body.

As life faded from the white wolfos it lifted one of its paws and with a desperate lunge it ripped through Link's tunic and into his back.

"Aaarghh."

The teen sat there on the ground panting for what felt like hours. He shook his head and ripped a piece of the tunic of to make a bandage for his arm. He stood up slowly, fighting the wave of dizziness that overcame him.

"We meet again, Link…" Sheik was standing behind him.

Link spun around.

He was panting lightly still. His head was spinning from the sudden movement.

"If you came here to meet the Zoras, you wasted your time. This is all there is… With one exception, the Zoras are now sealed under this thick ice sheet," Sheik told the blond.

Link looked at him with a pained expression. The long gash down his back was dripping. The snow beneath his feet was turning red.

The Sheikah didn't seem to notice, though, as he just continued talking. "I managed to rescue the Zora princess from under the ice, but she left to head for the Water Temple."

_'__Oh, great we get to meet Ruto again,'_ Link thought miserably.

"This ice is created by an evil curse. The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. Unless you shut off the source, this ice will never melt."

_'__Great, I'll do that will you let me go now.' _Link's back was hurting something awful.

"If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zoras, I will teach you the melody that leads to the temple. Time passes, people move… Like a river's flow, it never ends. A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection. The clear water's surface reflects growth… Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself…" Sheik withdrew his lyre and played the flowing tune.

Link didn't. Couldn't join in, his left arm hurt and his back was on fire.

"Link… I'll see you again…" Sheik disappeared in a flash.

The blond collapsed. His vision was swimming. He tried desperately to focus. _'Harry seems to know where we need to go most of the time,'_ he thought and managed to pull the ocarina out off its pouch. _'Maybe he's waiting for me by the Water Temple.'_

Link played the song and was transported out off the Ice Cavern.

* * *

><p>Harry was observing the sorry state of Lake Hylia. <em>'According to Zelda this place used to be beautiful,'<em> he looked around.

The water of the lake had been reduced to a puddle covering the entrance to the temple. As a result what had once been green thick grass covering the land around the lake had become brown and dry. The raven stood, leaning against the trunk of a dead tree, hopping that Link would get there soon. He again berated himself for leaving the blond alone. _'We should be doing this together,'_ he thought.

There was the faint sound of an ocarina drifting through the air. Harry turned towards the warp point. In a sparkle of blue light, Link appeared.

He was a mess.

Blood was spreading out over the pad coating the water symbol.

"Link!" the raven screamed. He ran forward and dropped down next to the blond. "Oh Nayru, what has happened to you?" he cried out. Reaching for the blonde's pulse, he thanked the heavens when he found it. Quickly, he ripped Link's tunic off. He gently ran his hands along the gashes on the blonde's back. None of the rips went muscle deep but they bled a lot. He pulled a potions vial out off his belt, uncorked it and poured the magenta liquid over the wounds. It sizzled as it touched the blood.

Harry was glad that the blond was out cold. This would have hurt a lot otherwise. He worked the potion into the wound and was relieved when it started healing. He let his hands travel over the blonde's back. Grabbing strong shoulders, he shifted the teen to his side. The chest was undamaged but he noticed the sloppy bandage covering the teen's left arm. He reached out and undid it revealing deep puncture wounds with horrid lacerations going around the forearm. He gasped. _'This is horrible,'_ he thought as he turned the arm slightly.

The brachioradial muscle had been torn to shreds. This injury was much worse than the back one and would take longer to heal. Harry uncorked another vial. The muscle needed to heal before he could do anything about the open wound. He cleaned most of the blood out off the punctures before he put a localized stasis around the area. Then he poured the healing liquid onto the muscle itself.

A whimper escaped the blonde's lips.

Harry straightened up. This would hurt worse than what he'd done to the guy's back so there was a chance it could wake him up.

Blue panicked eyes opened. Link tried to get away from whatever was hurting him.

"Ssshhsshh, Link its O.K. I'm here," Harry said soothingly. He reached out slowly and rubbed his friend's arm.

"H…harry?"

"Yes, Link it's me."

"Hurts," the blond whimpered.

"I know Link. I know it hurts but you need this to heal," Harry moved to prevent the blond from lying on his back. He ran his free hand though soft locks. His other hand was currently being crushed by the injured blond as the potion did its job. "Ssshhsshh," he tried to calm his friend. Slowly the pressure applied to his hand faded as the blond fell back into the dark abyss of unconsciousness. He sighed. Standing up slowly, he was careful so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping blond. _'This is my fault how could I just leave him like that. He would have died if I hadn't been here when he arrived… And what if he hadn't managed to get here then what? Stupid, stupid hormones,'_ he was berating himself as he raised the tent.

_'__Magic can be so useful at times,'_ the raven thought as he levitated Link's body into one of the beds in the tent. He loved magical tents. He sat down next to his friend. He ran a hand over the smooth chest before him.

He sighed.

He shouldn't be doing this. Looking was one thing, it wouldn't hurt them. He pulled the green ribbon out off his hair. But he really shouldn't be touching. _'If only the words that accompanied the Serenade of Water were true,'_ he thought. He closed his eyes. The raven leaned forward and gently placed his head against the blonde's bare chest.

…

Harry sat up startled. _'What? Where?'_ he blinked. A soft chuckle could be heard from beside him. He turned.

Link was half sitting half lying in the bed. His hands were resting on his stomach. He was smiling brightly at the raven.

Harry could feel blood rushing to his face. _'I fell asleep on Link,'_ he thought mortified.

Link, however, didn't notice the look on Harry's face as he grabbed the smaller teen and pulled him closer.

Harry inhaled sharply. The blond had buried his head in the crook of his neck. He stiffened slightly. _'This is not a good idea,'_ he thought. But Link wasn't about to let him go so there really wasn't all that much he could do about it.

Link smiled against his friend's neck. He'd missed this. He had never really understood why they didn't share a bed anymore. It had never been a problem when they were kids. He knew that a lot of things were different now, though. Harry had grown up like people were supposed to do. Not been stuck in some sort of weird chamber locked away from the world. He ran a hand through the raven locks next to his head. "What's wrong Harry," he asked as the raven shifted yet again.

Harry froze. Link had finally noticed that he was getting increasingly uncomfortable laying there. Not that he was in a hurry to move really. He loved the closeness. He sat up slowly. _'I'm glad I opted against wearing traditional Sheikah clothes,' _he though. The baggy pants and scapular went a long way to hide his semi hard-on.

Harry?" Link said worriedly. He reached out.

Harry bit his lip. _'Link wouldn't understand,'_ he thought. He took the blonde's hand in his.

_'__Not if you tell him in detail no but you could give him the general idea,'_ his mind informed him.

He took a deep breath. How on earth was he going to say this? He looked up at Link. The blond was watching him, concern written over his face. "Do you remember what Sheik told you… before he taught you the serenade?" he asked.

Link's brows furrowed. He really hadn't been able to concentrate through the pain yesterday. He tried to recall what had been said, but it was futile. He shook his head apologetically.

Harry smiled at him. "That's O.K." he said "I know the words as well: 'Time passes, people move… Like a river's flow, it never ends. A childish mind will turn to noble ambition. Young love will become deep affection. The clear water's surface reflects growth.' These words accompany the serenade." He tilted his head slightly.

Link mulled the words over for a moment. _'What was that supposed to mean?'_ He looked up at Harry. "Sheik said something like that when he taught me the bolero too didn't he?" he asked trying to remember.

Harry laughed at Link's scrunched up face. "Yes he told you that: A true friendship. A feeling in the heart that becomes even stronger over time. The passion will soon blossom into a righteous power, and through it, you will know which way to go,' when we met him in the volcano," he informed the blond.

Link nodded. _'That was it,'_ he smiled. He liked that one; it sounded like him and Harry. A friendship which grew stronger over time. He froze. _'What if that's how I'm supposed to look at the words for the serenade. Like they were meant for me and Harry,'_ he contemplated. He thought about it. Did that mean that Harry loved him? He certainly loved the raven.

Harry smiled fondly at the confused blond. He definitely didn't expect the reaction he got when Link finally seemed to figure something out.

Link lunged forward and gave the raven a bone crushing hug. "Love you too," he exclaimed giddily.

Harry, who was lying on the floor now, looked up at his friend in disbelief. He sighed. He doubted that there would be an easy way to explain this, and he wasn't up to handling the complicated version of this talk yet. If he ever would.

"You could have just told me you love me, though," Link scratched his head, "instead of me having to play guessing games." He pouted.

Harry shook his head with a smile. He gave up; Link was just too cute sometimes. He managed to get out from under the taller teen and stood up.

"Harry."

"Yes Link."

"What's wrong with my arm?"

Harry turned. Link was poking at the still damaged appendix. "Stop that," he said and shooed the blonde's hand away. He pulled out another bottle of the magenta coloured potion from his belt.

"What is that?" Link asked with a wary look. _'It's pink, PINK,' _he thought, _'insane pink. If Harry wants me to drink that I'm running.'_ He got ready to bolt out off the tent when…

Harry noticed Link tensing. He could see the blond getting ready to flee. _'Oh no, you don't,'_ he thought with a smirk.

Within the blink of an eye Link had been frozen in place. He couldn't move a muscle.

Harry simply rolled his eyes at the shocked look the blond sent him. He kneeled down and grabbed Link's wrist. Carefully he poured the contents of the vial into the wounds. Maybe it had been a good idea to paralyze him before administering the potion. He had to remove both the paralysis and the stasis on the arm before the liquid could work its magic, though.

Link clenched his fist. Pain flitted across his face.

"It will be over soon," Harry said softly. He let the paralysis wear off gradually.

Link took a shaky breath. He looked down at his now healed arm.

"It will be sore for another hour or so," Harry said. He looked out "We really should get going soon if you're up to it," he said gently.

"Yeah we should," Link stood up shakily and walked out off the tent the raven following closely behind him. "We get to meet Ruto again after all," he said with faked enthusiasm.

Harry snorted. He packed the tent with a wave of his hand and walked up to the blond.

"I remember wanting to show you this place as a child," Link said sadly. "It was so beautiful back then."

Harry nodded. "The temple entrance is down there," he said and pointed.

Link looked down at the miserable amount of water down there. "I guess I'll be needing these then," he picked a pair of iron plates out off a pouch.

"Yeah definitely," Harry looked at the plates. "How did you manage to get those with you yesterday?" he asked.

"Don't know," Link said. He really couldn't remember picking the things up, but he'd somehow known he had them.

Harry ran a hand down the blonde's back before the taller teen bent down and fastened the iron plates to his boots.

Link took a tentative step forward. His feet were much heavier now. The blond walked up to the island's edge. Before he jumped, however, he realised something. "Eh, Harry."

"Hhmm."

"How are we supposed to breathe down there?" Link asked.

Harry started laughing. "That's a brilliant question. Good you came up with it before you jumped in," he said once he'd calmed down somewhat. He walked up to the blond and studied him for a moment. "There is a tunic for this temple as well," he said "It's blue." He rolled his eyes.

"But I can perform magic that will work just as well," he finished.

"That's why you started teasing me about the purple tunic back in Death Mountain," Link realised.

Harry nodded. "Yeah it is," he smiled.

Link just shook his head. "You should take that off it'll just get heavy if the Water Temple is full of water," he said and motioned to Harry's torso.

Harry looked down. _'Link has a point,'_ he thought before he simply grabbed the hems of his tunic and pulled it over his head. He then removed a ribbon from the pouch he stuffed the fabric into. He put his hair up in a bun getting the long locks out off his way. He raised his hands and a soft greenish glow accompanied by a warm almost fuzzy feeling spread though their bodies.

They jumped.

Splash!

* * *

><p>Harry and Link were admiring the interesting green almost liquid like substance decorating the walls when…<p>

"Oh, you… If I'm right are Link, yes?" a female voice said.

They turned. To their right stood no other than Princess Ruto.

Link groaned.

"You are Link aren't you?" She moved closer to them. She reached out and ran a finger down the blonde's face. "It's me, your fiancée, Ruto! Princess of the Zoras," she smiled seductively and winked at him.

Link backed away uncomfortably.

"I never forgot the vows we made to each other seven years ago," she ran a hand down her chest leisurely. She tilted her head and bit her lip in what she must have thought was a sexy manner.

"Oh, please stop it," Harry exclaimed irritably.

Ruto turned to the raven. She blinked and then she let her eyes wander down the teen's exposed torso. "If it isn't Harry," she smiled sweetly. "You really have grown up well," she swayed her hips as she walked up to him. Reaching out and running her finger down his chest she said, "I would never have thought you'd turn out so… handsome." She leaned in. "Since he's been such a terrible man and kept me waiting," she waved over to Link. "Why don't we have some fun instead?"

Harry was about to respond when he felt himself get tugged back.

Link had pulled the raven to stand behind him. "Leave Harry alone," he told Ruto angrily. He didn't know entirely where all this anger came from, but he didn't want the princess anywhere near HIS Harry.

Ruto stepped back and looked at him surprised. She was about to say something when Harry got an idea. He took half a step forward and wrapped his arms around Link's torso possessively.

The Zora narrowed her eyes at them. Her nostrils flared.

"We're not interested in you," Harry said with a smirk.

"You little…" she hissed as she came closer.

Then a weird sound went through the temple. It sounded almost like someone trying to drink the last of a milkshake out off a straw Harry thought. His cousin Dudley was very good at producing that sound.

Ruto stopped. She looked up worriedly. "I guess now is not the time to talk about love," she said.

"I need to save Zora's Domain," she looked back down at them. "You! You have to help me."

She placed her hands on her hips. "This is a request from me, the woman who is going to be your wife," her tone was demanding. "Follow me." She started swimming upwards.

"Oh no, we're not going through this temple with her as company," Harry said.

Link whole heartedly agreed with his raven friend. He bent down and removed the iron plates from his boots.

Luckily for them Ruto was nowhere to be seen as they broke the water surface. They climbed up and looked around.

Harry tilted his head. "This will lower the water level," he said as he touched a painting of a Triforce.

Link nodded and brought out his ocarina.

He played Zelda's Lullaby.

Low

Middle

High

Up

Down

Up

Down

Up

"These stupid mechanisms are driving me crazy!" Link cried in frustration.

Harry reached out and patted the poor blond affectionately on the shoulder. "At least the next room should be a mini-boss room," he tried to comfort his friend.

Link sighed. "Well at least that's not moving water around," he gave the door a dark stare. He walked forward and opened it.

The room was seemingly everlasting. Water covered the floor. A thick white fog hung in the air. The only thing in there was a small island with a dead tree on it.

The air gave Harry the chills. He didn't like this room at all.

They walked up to the island.

"There is nothing in here," Link said, "just more water."

As they walked back of the island, Harry noticed something. "Link," he said.

"Yeah."

"Your reflection is missing."

Link looked down. Harry was right. He didn't have a reflection anymore. He turned around slowly. Something wasn't right. He walked back towards the island.

"Hee, you really are pathetic."

Link looked up. There was another man standing by the dead tree in the room. It was almost like looking into a mirror apart from the bright red eyes his doppelganger had. He drew his sword. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

The doppelganger just smirked. He turned to Harry. "Well if it isn't the little Sheikah wannabe. Miss me?" his voice had a metallic echo to it.

"No I haven't and if I remember correctly I killed you last time we met," Harry clenched his fists. He hated this man, demon, whatever.

"You've met this moron before Harry?" Link asked concerned. He didn't like this guy. There was definitely something off with him.

"Yes," Harry took a deep breath. He brought his magic back under control.

"Isn't this touching ne…? He doesn't know does he?... about the fun we had Harry," Dark Link disappeared only to reappear behind the raven. The fake Link ran his tongue up small teen's cheek.

Harry turned and cut through the air where Dark Link had just been.

"Hee, you cannot defeat me this time Harry my Master has granted me immunity to your magic. I will have you before this is over. That shall be my reward for killing this pathetic little hero," the demon said.

Link attacked the monster with a wide swing.

Dark Link raised his sword caught the blade and countered.

Slash!

Clang!

Slash!

Splash! Link rolled.

The water was turning red beneath their feet.

Slash!

"LINK!"

Harry caught the incoming strike with his own body just like back in Dodongo's Cavern.

"Foolish little sorcerer," Dark Link said as he grabbed Harry by the hair and cast his limp body aside. Unlike back in Dodongo's Cavern the raven's magic hadn't saved him this time. The blade had cut deep into his abdomen.

Seeing the water turning a deep red around Harry's form Link froze for just a second to long.

"Aaargh."

Splash!

Link collapsed.

His ears rang. His head hurt. He shook it in a desperate try to clear it.

The blond blinked water out off his eyes. A few feet away he could see his dark doppelganger lean down over Harry. _'Leave him alone,'_ he thought angrily. He slowly stood up and picked up his sword. He walked forward the blade meant to repel evil glowing in a steady orange at his side.

He raised the blade.

"Think you can sneak up on me do you?" Dark Link went to stand up. "Wha…what is this," he looked down at his hands and legs.

"Ice," Harry's voice was weak but firm. "My most advanced element is ice," the raven opened his emerald eyes. "You challenge us in a room full of water… then you tell me that my magic is useless," he smiled grimly. "I wonder what happens if I gather all the water in the room around you and freeze it."

The water slowly started moving, gathering around them.

Link reached down and helped Harry to his feet. His blade was still glowing. He was going to finish this creep off. One quick strike later and Dark Link had a slash which split his body in two from shoulder to navel. The water didn't stop though. It simply moved into the wound and slowly it froze creating a beautiful white flower with a blood-red centre in the room.

Harry slumped.

The flower exploded into thousands of tiny shards.

The mist disappeared. They were standing in a large rectangular room. The floor was blue tiles. The walls were grey bricks.

Harry uncorked a potions vial. Ha downed the contents and grimaced. He doubled over. Nayru that hurt.

Link placed a hand on his back. "You gonna be O.K. Harry?" he asked anxiously.

Harry nodded. "Master Salazar's potions work really well they just hurt like hell sometimes," he answered. As the raven straightened up once more Link could see that his wounds were completely gone.

The blond was relived. Harry would be alright.

The raven looked over at Link. He shook his head in affection. The blond was worrying about him with the injuries he had. He walked up to his friend and reached out. He touched Link's forehead. It was just a shallow cut but it bled a lot. "Here drink this," he handed the blond a vial.

Link accepted it, _'at least it isn't pink,'_ he thought. It tasted chilly if that was possible.

They entered the next room not long after that and decided that it would be a good place to rest.

Link sat down. He held out his arms to Harry. The raven tiredly slumped down between the blonde's legs. "Link," he whispered.

"Mmhh," Link wrapped his arms around the raven.

"There is something I need to tell you," Harry leaned back. He rested his head against Link's shoulder.

Link looked down at the raven. "What?" he asked.

"You know Sheik."

"Yeah."

"Well it's actually Zelda not Sheik."

Link blinked surprised. "Zelda?"

"Yeah, she looks like Sheik, he was a Sheikah we trained with during the seven years, but it's really Zelda," Harry leaned in to the blonde's warmth.

"So it's like a disguise," Link looked pensive.

"Mhmm." Harry closed his eyes. His breathing slowed. Unconsciously he cuddled closer to the blond.

Link smiled. He lowered his head. His breathing evened out.

The two teens held tight to each other neither letting go for even a moment.

* * *

><p>"What happened to your glasses anyway?" Link asked as they walked over the solid ice Harry had created to avoid the maelstroms.<p>

"Oh, them. Master Salazar fixed my eyesight so I don't need them anymore."

_~Flashback~_

_Harry had melted yet another cauldron. He felt terrible about it but had no clue as to why it happened. _

_"__Again young one," Salazar wasn't angry at him but the disappointment was clear._

_"__Yes Master," the raven twirled his finger together. He hated making Master disappointed. _

_"__Talk yourself though the steps," Salazar instructed. _

_Harry nodded._

_"__First set the cauldron on the fire with 5 pints of water. Then cut the keese wings into thin slices. After that you chop the morths and crush the furnix fossils to powder," Harry prepared the ingredients as he spoke. _

_Salazar nodded there was nothing wrong with the child's performance so far. Or so he thought. The man reached out and placed a hand over the bowl with fossil powder in it. The fossil powder still had chunks in it. "Harry this isn't properly done," he held the bowl out to his apprentice. _

_The raven took the bowl and looked at the contents. He squinted. The bowl was blurry. He rubbed his eyes behind the glasses. _

_Salazar studied the boy for a moment. "Harry can you read the text in on the scroll from there?" he asked._

_The boy turned and looked at the recipe scroll. He shook his head. "No Master I can't," he answered. He didn't understand was that important somehow? _

_"__Come here," his Master told him. _

_Harry stood up walked around the table. He looked up at his Master. _

_Salazar examined the boy's eyes. He removed the glasses shook his head and sighed. The boy wasn't blind but if his eyes weren't fixed he could be in a few years. "We will have to heal your eyes young one," the Sorcerer said as he stood up. He walked over to his ingredients cupboard. _

_~Flashback ends~_

"So he healed your eyes then?" Link asked.

"Yeah, he did. I couldn't believe how much I'd been missing not being able to see properly," Harry smiled at Link.

The blond laughed. "So boss room now right?"

"Ahaa."

They studied the blade traps before them moving back and forth for a moment. Then Link took a few steps back and ran up the slope. He turned around and looked at Harry a sassy smile on his lips.

Harry just rolled his eyes before he leaped and landed on the closest blade trap. He back flipped to the next one.

"Show off," Link muttered to the raven as he landed next to him.

Harry smirked and pulled out the boss key from a pouch. He unlocked the boss door.

"I wonder if it matter which key you use for the boss door. I mean they all look the same don't they," Link studied the key.

Harry snorted. "Really Link?"

They entered the room.

"Oh great more water," Link moaned.

"That isn't normal water Link." Ruto's voice floated through the air.

The blond blinked in surprise at her voice. Looking around the room he noticed that the walls were lined with long sharp spikes. That didn't look promising. He jumped out to one of the four platforms in the water. _'What is that,'_ he wondered. There was a strange gurgling sound coming from the water. He turned around. A long tentacle had appeared behind him. There was a strange thing moving through the watery looking tentacle.

"That's Morpha it's the master of the Water Temple. It has absolute control of water. Pull out its nucleus and attack it!" Navi cried next to Link.

The blond stepped to the side as the water tentacle landed where he'd just been standing. But the water surprised him as it wrapped around his body. It squeezed hard enough for him to lose his breath.

"LINK!" Harry panicked scream filled the air.

Link was tossed aside as the nucleus shifted its focus to the raven.

Harry ran across the room. He landed on his knees next to the blond. "Link are you O.K?"

The blond coughed and took a deep shaky breath. "Yeah, I'm O.K." he wheezed.

The raven helped him back to his feet. He was yanked to the side as the water tentacle landed beside them. It moved towards them. Link tensed _'this is gonna hurt,'_ he thought.

Nothing happened.

Link opened his eyes.

Harry was glowing brightly. His arms outstretched touching the tentacle. It had frozen solid.

Link stepped forward. He drew his sword and approached the nucleus. He raised his sword and stabbed it straight though Morpha's core. He focused and a blue glow spread out over the metal. It slowly turned orange and the nucleus melted.

Harry let out his breath slowly. "That was harder than I thought it would be," he said. His legs gave out and he fell to the floor.

Link reached out and pulled the smaller teen up.

The water in the room slowly vaporized.

A blue circle of light appeared at the bottom of the pool. The teens slowly made their way down there and stepped inside.

The light dispersed. Ruto was standing before them. "Link," she smiled sweetly at the blond.

"I would have expected no less from the man I chose to be my husband," she winked at him.

Link was very glad that the princess couldn't move from her spot right now. He didn't like having to deal with her. _'At least all her drivel means nothing now that she's a Sage,'_ he thought relived.

Harry shifted slightly against his chest. The blond looked down. The raven looked exhausted. He tightened his hold on the smaller teen's waist.

Ruto's voice broke through his thoughts "… will eventually return to their original state. As a reward…I grant my eternal love to you," she said.

Link looked at her like she'd grown a second head. _'Yeah right, you stay back you insane fish lady,'_ he thought. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"But that's not possible since you are a Sage now," Harry said triumphantly. The raven smirked at her disappointed expression.

"No I'd like to say that but it can't happen since I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water," she pouted. She looked at Link. "You are searching for the princess, Zelda, are you not?" she asked. She was smirking. Positive in her belief that Link would treasure any information she could give him about the girl.

Link just shrugged though. "Nah, not really," he said nonchalantly.

Ruto looked shocked, _'what? He didn't care?'_ she narrowed her eyes at the raven Link was holding. He'd snubbed her and then he'd stolen Link. The boy was a nuisance. She had been right when she was young. The small kid was worthless. He'd ruin everything. Sensing that she was running out off time, she turned back to Link with a determined expression. "I can tell that nothing will stop you in your quest for justice and peace," her tone was commanding.

Link snorted.

"You must take this medallion. Take it respectfully!" Ruto said finally offering the blue roundel to the blond.

He accepted it and they were transported out off the Chamber of the Sages.

Ruto's voice reached their ears for the last time "If you see Sheik. Please give him my thanks."

When the blue light vanished this time, Lake Hylia was returning to normal. Clear blue water was filling the lakebed and soon the grass would regain its lustre.

Sheik was standing before them. "As the water rises, the evil is vanishing from the lake… Link, you did it!" he said.

Link helped the drained Harry to sit down before he ran over to the Sheikah. "Hey Sheik," he stopped before the other blond "Ruto said to tell you thanks from her," he told the man.

"Ruto wanted to thank me? I see…" the Sheikah looked almost pained by the information.

Link wondered if Ruto had tried to flirt with him too. He bit back a giggle. _'Now that would have been fun when it comes out that Sheik is Zelda,'_ he thought.

"We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake too. Don't we?" Sheik said with a roll of his eyes.

Link snorted _'Yeah right, I'll fix things for Ruto's sake,'_ he thought sarcastically.

"Look at that, Link… Together you and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster! Once again, the lake is filled with pure water. All is as it was here" the Sheikah said and motioned to the lake.

Link walked forward. He gazed out over the clear water. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Sheik leaving his side.

Harry watched as the Sheikah walked up to him.

"Harry," the blond bowed his head.

"Sheik," the raven responded coldly.

The Sheikah blinked in surprise.

"You ever allow Link to almost bleed to death again I will personally hand you over to Ganondorf and leave Hyrule to its fate," Harry said. His voice was dead serious and if looks could kill, the princess of Hyrule would be dead by now.

Zelda stepped back. She had never been the target of those green pools before. She was scared. Not for a moment did she believe that Harry was joking with her. The raven would keep his word. To the letter.

She backed off and climbed to the top of the tree standing on the island.

Link turned around.

"Where did Sheik go to?" he asked.

Harry stood up slowly and walked up to the blond. He watched as Sheik left the island. "Does it matter?" he asked Link.

The blond smiled. "I guess not," he reached out and pulled Harry into a hug. _'This is nice,'_ he thought. Raven hair brushed against his cheek. Harry's breath came out in warm puffs against his bare skin.

They stood like that for a while just savouring the moment.

"There is an inscription on this," Link said and pointed down.

Harry pulled his tunic back on before turning around. "Yeah, what does it say?" he asked.

Link looked down. "When water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light," he read.

"Well I guess that means you need to shoot an arrow at the morning sun," the raven told him.

Link nodded. He turned and looked up. The moon was high in the sky. "We can stay here until tomorrow then?" he wondered.

"Sure."


	13. Lost Souls

**Lost Souls**

A/N: Warning: I'm giving an extra for those who can't read the summary. There will be slash.

And there is smut … or something in here

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews – Have fun :)

* * *

><p>There was a sinister feel in the air.<p>

The teens had left Lake Hylia on horseback after Link had shot the arrow as the engraving had told him to. Harry was certain that the fire arrows would come in handy someday.

They were entering Kakariko Village.

The place was on fire.

Smoke was filling the air.

The villagers were in panic.

"It will burn to the ground at this rate." "Do something."

"Where is that bloody Hero now when we need him, huh?"

"Who cares he's nothing but a kid anyway." "Get out off my way."

All around the teens, people were shoving and pushing and shouting.

There was no order, no attempts to put the fires out and no one seemed to care who they hurt as they trampled around.

A glimpse of blond.

_'__Sheik,'_ Link thought and started running towards the well. When he reached the Sheikah the man turned to look down at the depths of the well. "Get back, Link!" he ordered.

A shadow came rushing up out off the hole. It grabbed the Sheikah and tossed him around before it dumped him on the ground unconscious.

"Sheik!" Link ran up to the man's body. He looked around for his raven friend and noticed that the shadow was coming back towards them. He readied his sword and shield.

* * *

><p>Harry was getting rather frustrated with these humans. He heard the sound of a child crying and as Link ran off to catch Sheik, he started looking for the source of that crying. Next to the building he remembered belonged to the nice lady a small girl sat. Tears were dripping down her face and she was holding a small stuffed bunny in her arms.<p>

"Hey girl what's wrong?" Harry asked her gently. She raised her eyes and looked at him.

Hick! "Can't find moma," she said shakily.

Harry kneeled down. He held his arms out. "Will you let me help you look for her?" he asked.

The little girl studied him for a second then she moved closer to him.

Harry lifted her up. "You'll be safer up here sweetie," he said. "What does your mom look like dear?" he raised the arm not holding her and stroked her hair.

The girl rubbed her eyes "Moma got red hair," she whispered.

"Like you?"

"Aha," she nodded shyly.

Harry nodded and started scanning the crowd. There were plenty of redheads out there but not the shade his little girl had. People kept bumping into him and pushing him around. He was starting to lose his patience with them.

"Mumy, mumy."

Harry spun around.

A boy, not much older than the girl he was carrying, was standing in the crowd. He had a long gash down his arm. The raven lost him in to trampling feet. He didn't stop walking though. He reached the spot where the boy had stood. He looked around. _'Where is he?'_ he wondered. He scanned the ground.

_'__There.'_

The boy was lying down.

Harry walked over to him. He kneeled.

The poor kid had been knocked unconscious. The raven pulled him closer. Someone crashed into him. His magic flared. He put the girl down and stood back up. He looked around. **_"Ridiculous,"_** he hissed. "STAND STILL!" he roared. People stopped to look at the enraged teen.

"Who are you to tell us what to do?" one of the men asked.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man. He turned his head towards one of the burning houses. The fire went out. He turned to back to the villagers. He bent down and picked the little boy up. "This is what you have achieved by your actions today," he held the boy up, "you're lucky he's still alive." He let go off him magic completely. It started whirling around him like tornado. The fires went out and the damage done to the building mended completely. The magical wind calmed slowly. It hadn't targeted people so nobody was hurt. Harry had only meant to scare them after all. "Who are the parents for these two?" he lifted the girl up as well.

"Anne!" a woman called out and ran up to them.

"Moma!" the little redhead on his arm cried.

Harry smiled at the woman. "Here you go ma'am she's been looking for you." He handed the girl over. He looked back out over the crowd. He shifted the boy in his arms. Then he saw Link lying on the ground. "Link!" He ran through the crowd and fell down next to the blond.

"He's been knocked unconscious that's all," Sheik tried to tell the raven.

Harry looked up at the Sheikah imposter.

Cough!

They looked back down.

Link was shifting. His bright blue eyes opened. He sat up slowly with Harry's help.

"What happened?" Harry asked the Sheikah.

Sheik looked at them. "The evil shadow spirit escaped from its prison. Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village, had it sealed at the bottom of the well but it managed to break free. I believe Impa has gone to the Shadow Temple to seal it again, but she will be in danger without help," his expression turned grave. He turned to Link. "Impa is one of the six Sages. Please destroy the evil shadow spirit and save her," the Sheikah pleaded.

_'__Stupid princess if you're overheard Ganondorf will figure out that it's you,'_ Harry thought but he kept his mouth shut. He wouldn't blow the girl's cover.

"There is an entrance to the Shadow Temple beneath the graveyard behind this village. The only thing I can do for you is teach you the melody that will lead you the temple. This melody will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time… Listen to the Nocturne of Shadow!" Sheik withdrew his lyre and started playing.

The tune was sadder than the previous ones. That didn't stop Link from learning it like he'd never played anything else in his life, though.

Sheik looked at the blond and raven. "I will take care of the village and the boy. I'm counting on you two," he said.

Harry handed over the unconscious child. Sheik stood up slowly with the boy in his arms before he left the two of them and walked over to the villagers. Harry and Link looked at each other. Then they lifted their instruments and with a glitter of purple they were gone.

* * *

><p>The entrance to the Shadow Temple was closed. The door bore the Sheikah eye. Scattered around the room stood unlit torches.<p>

Link walked forward. He stepped up on the platform in the middle of the room. This place was depressing. He wondered what it had been used for. "What is this place…apart from the Shadow Temple I mean," he asked Harry.

The raven stepped up next to him. "It's a tomb. The last resting place for the Sheikah," he said quietly.

"We're gonna enter a tomb," Link looked a bit squeamish.

"Yes."

Link looked around for a moment. "I have to light all the torches at once don't I?"

"Well someone has to," Harry smirked at his friend.

Link sighed. He picked out Din's Fire and focused on the crystal. It glowed for a moment before it released a dome of burning flames. All around him fires were lit. By his side a grey light glowed faintly. Link turned to the raven as the door slowly rose revealing a dark passage.

"Eh, sorry," he said embarrassed. He'd forgotten that Harry was standing next to him when he used the crystal.

Harry shrugged and dispelled his shield. "No need to worry. I'm fine," he said nonchalantly.

They walked forward into the darkness of the next temple.

"Make my beak face the skull of truth. The alternative is decent into the deep darkness," the whisper drifted through the air.

Harry looked around. Spirits of dead Sheikah floated around them. One of the girl's was brushing her hand against Link's face. He met her eyes and glared at her. She giggled and danced off. He shook his head. "What's wrong Link?" he asked the anxious blond.

"Which one is the right one? They all look the same to me," Link ran a hand though his hair nervously.

"That one," Harry pointed. "It's the only one that's really there," he said as he walked up to the skull. He leaned against the pole. A small child came up to him.

'You can see us, can't you,' her voice was a whisper.

Harry nodded. "Yes I can," he answered quietly. She smiled at him and reached out for his hand.

'Dance with me,' she said.

"I'm sorry dear but I can't," he said apologetically. The spirits living in the temple may seem innocent but Harry knew that they would lead him astray if he let them.

Link pushed the bird statue in place and the sound of a gate opening reached their ears. He looked around. "How are we going to get over there?" he asked in exasperation. The gate lay on the other side of a great chasm.

Harry walked forward. He looked down. The darkness hid the spirits of hatred and deceit which had been cast down there. The ones who hadn't been granted a proper resting place. He shuddered. Eternal agony awaited those who fell down there. He reached out and grabbed the blond pulling him back a safe distance from the gap.

There was a sign standing a few feet away. Harry waked up to it.

Only one who has sacred feet can cross the valley of the dead.

He looked around the room. "There is another opening that way," he pointed.

Link turned "O.K. let's go there then," he said.

They walked through the door.

"These are the burial chambers," Harry said softly. He walked forward.

'One who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness.'

"Well isn't that great," Link sounded scared.

Harry placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry I won't let you go astray," he said. "Follow me." He grabbed the blonde's hand and led them down a path.

'Shadow Temple… Here is Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred…'

Link turned in a circle. _'Where is that voice coming from?' _he wondered.

They kept moving finding the dungeon map along the way. Harry tightened his hold on Link's hand.

The shade of a Sheikah was standing before them. 'What is hidden in the darkness… Tricks full of ill will… You can't see the way forward…' he said.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man. "Go away!" he hissed. The man didn't move though. He sighed. He didn't like how these shades frightened Link. This place was bad enough without talking spirits. He turned and gave blond a reassuring hug before he started walking again, leading them down another path up to a door.

The shade followed them and as they entered the next room he floated to the middle of the room. He stopped and turned to them with a nasty grin on his face. 'How will you go on… with broken bones and bleeding hearts… you will rot here…' he said before he faded.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Six long white arms emerged from the bone covered floor. Harry looked over at Link.

The blond had taken on a determined expression. He drew his sword. This he knew how to handle. He cut the closest arm off with a well-aimed strike. "Damn-it," he exclaimed. One of the hands had grabbed on to him and was holding him in place.

The body of the dead hand appeared in a spray of earth. Harry moved towards it and as the monster attacked Link he jumped forward cutting into the white skin with ease.

The hand let go of the blond. They staggered back as another wave of sand was created when the body buried itself again.

"Link," Harry said.

"Yeah?"

"Place a bomb there," the raven pointed at a spot on the floor.

Link did as he was told.

BOOM!

The dead hand's body appeared once more. Link raised his blade. The monster lowered its head.

Slash, slash!

Slash, slash, stab!

"Eww, what is this," Link looked at the green substance dripping from his sword.

"Blood," Harry responded. He looked down at his hands. They were covered in the stuff. It reeked. He scrunched his nose.

"So where do I place the bomb?" Link asked the raven.

"Turn around, two steppes to your left," Harry instructed.

BOOM!

Crackle, slash, stab!

Slash, slash!

The monster collapsed at their feet.

"Yes finally," Link cried.

Harry laughed. He spelled their blades and hands clean. He smirked at the blond and leaped forward.

"Oomph," Link had landed on the floor with the raven sitting on his chest.

"You're impossible you know," Harry smiled.

"Me? I'm impossible yeah right," Link tried to look insulted.

Harry just kept smiling.

Link sat up slowly. His face ended up mere inches from Harry's.

The raven closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together.

Link sat there stunned. _'Oh, Farore what's going on?' _he wondered.

Harry pulled back quickly cheeks flaming. _'Shit why did I do that?'_ he hid his face in his hands.

"Harry?" Confusion laced the blonde's voice. He reached out and touched the raven's hands.

Harry lowered his hands slowly following them with his eyes. He bit his lip nervously. "Yes Link," he looked up at the blond but didn't meet the other's eyes. He was terrified of what Link might think.

"Why…what was…" Link ruffled his hair in frustration. He didn't know what to ask. He didn't understand this.

Harry sighed. _'This isn't going to be fun,' _he thought. "Link I kissed you," he said and shifted his gaze. He was looking Link straight in the eyes now.

_'__Kissed, kissed. That was a kiss,'_ Link didn't know what to think. He knew that grown-ups in Castle Town and Kakariko Village did stuff like that but…but this was Harry. Harry had kissed him.

Harry stood up he needed to think and he did that better on his feet. Actually he thought best while playing the violin. He didn't want to confuse Link even more though. So he wouldn't do that now. He walked up to the chest which had appeared after they had killed the dead hand. There was another pair of add-ons for Link's boots in the chest. He removed them and walked back to the blond.

Link had stood up and was currently shifting uncomfortably. He'd liked the kiss he just didn't understand it. He looked up at his raven friend. Harry was heading back towards him. The blond reached out and grabbed Harry's hand. "Come on let's just continue through the temple O.K." he said. He could try to figure this out as they went.

Harry looked up at his friend relived. "Thank you," he said. Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with this until Link could actually handle it.

They walked back out to the chasm. Harry gave Link the winged add-ons.

"How are you going to get over then?" the blond asked.

Harry looked at him for a moment before he walked back to gain some speed. He ran up to the chasm's edge and jumped. He landed on the tongue of the statue serving as entrance to the next part of the temple. He turned around and motioned for the blond to follow.

Link bent down and fastened the winged plates to his boots. _'Damn it these are difficult to run with,'_ he thought as he moved around trying to get a feel new tread. He ran out over the gap. The air beneath his feet was glowing yellow. _'This actually works pretty well,'_ he thought just before he started falling.

"Link!" Harry cast himself forward and grabbed the blonde's hand. His breathing was erratic. He closed his eyes. He could see the hungry looks of the lost souls beneath them. He focused on his magic. 'You won't be getting any today,' he thought as he released the magic.

Link became light as a feather and Harry pulled him up to stand next to him.

"Let's not do that again shall we," the blond said shaken.

"No thank you," Harry looked back. He'd almost lost his friend to the deeps of human hatred. He wasn't happy about it. He took a firm hold of Link's hand before turning away from the chasm.

They walked down the corridor leading them onwards. They killed the beamos and looked around.

"We can go both left and right those walls aren't real," Harry said.

Link nodded. He walked up to one of the fake walls. He took a deep breath and walked through it.

"The gibdos are the only thing in here," Harry said studying the floor and walls. "Do you want me to go over to the other room and check that out?"

"Yeah sure I can deal with this," Link answered and drew his sword. He made short work of killing the zombie monsters. A chest appeared in the room. After acquiring the compass from the chest, he headed back out into the main room. He looked around. All of the walls looked the same to him.

_'__They really need a new interior designer for this place,'_ he thought as he studied the walls. _'Skulls and bones aren't all that decorative,'_ he placed his hand against the only real bone and skull wall in the room. _'Now according to the map this wall shouldn't be here either,'_ he smirked. _'That means I get to blow it up,'_ he clapped his hands excitedly before withdrawing a bomb from his bomb bag.

BOOM!

The wall crumbled to dust. Link bit his lip. There was a locked door behind the wall. Not that he would go on ahead without Harry. Who knows what hid in the darkness. He sat down. Touching his lips the blond wondered how long his friend had wanted to do that. Wanted to kiss him. He remembered the burning anger he'd felt when Dark Link had touched the raven. How irritated he'd been at Ruto when she'd approached the smaller teen. _'Jealousy,'_ he realised. It had been stupid of course since he could tell that Harry wanted nothing to do with either the princess or the demon. But he'd been feeling jealous anyway. Harry was his. That… that was just the way it was.

The soft sound of steps brought him out off his musings. Harry was standing beside him. He smiled.

"How did it go?" he asked as the raven helped him to stand up.

"Oh, rather well," Harry returned the smile softly "I got a key," he said and held it up. "I had to gather silver rupees to get to it," he raised an eyebrow as Link groaned.

"Hate silver rupees," the blond explained. "The stupid ice cave had those. Twice," he looked annoyed.

Harry chuckled softly. He walked forward and unlocked the door.

The corridor lying past that door eventually led them to a huge room. There were several guillotines here as well. There had been two of those in the corridor as well as some skulltulas. The raven jumped over a gap in the path. On either side of them there was open space. You couldn't see the bottom of the abyss. At least this place wasn't filled with the spirits of lost souls. He vaulted over the guillotine blade and stopped. He looked back at the blond. "Link! Wallmaster!" he shouted.

The blond moved out off the way and stabbed his blade through the hand. He then sheeted the sword and ran over to Harry he jumped over the two gaps avoiding the guillotine blade.

Harry ran forward and somersaulted before the blade fell. Link followed once the blade rose up again sliding under it, kicking off from the wall and flipping over only to land next to Harry.

"Stylish," the raven said with a smirk.

"Yeah it was wasn't it," Link strutted forward with his nose in the air cockily.

The next blade wouldn't give them much time to get past but they made it anyway.

"Stalfos," Harry cried and drew his sai.

Link turned and raised his shield catching the stalfos' blade on it. The raven darted forward and stabbed at the skeleton's spine.

Slash!

The stalfos crumbled as Link's blade cut through its ribcage. He looked around. "So, where to now?" he asked. He looked down at the map. Then he turned left. "There are two chests in that direction but…how are we supposed to get there?"

"By jumping," the raven answered. He ran forward and jumped landing on thin air as far as the blond was concerned. "I'll go check it out yeah," he smiled at his friend before he turned and ran off.

Link sat down and looked around. To the right there was a platform moving up and down. In the distance he could see more of those stupid silver rupees. _'I might as well go and pick those,'_ he thought. He put on the hover plates and walked out to the lift. He ran up to the beamos and blew it up, picked the rupees and continued into the next room.

Only one with the eye of truth will find the stone umbrella

that protects against the rain of blades.

The sign in the room said. Link turned. The spiked blocks didn't look to comfortable. He taped his chin. How was he supposed to do this then?

"There is a stone block you could move over there," Harry said from behind him.

Link turned around. "Oh, O.K. Here?" He walked up to the stretch of wall Harry had been motioning to.

The raven nodded. "There was absolutely nothing in that room. The chests had a rupee and arrows in them," he threw the items over to the blond.

Link laughed "Well you can't get the jackpot every time," he pushed the block in place.

"If that's the case there is nothing else weird in this room have fun," Harry said sarcastically and walked back out again.

…

"You're evil," Link stated when he'd joined the raven again.

Harry reached out and hugged him. "You don't really think so," he whispered against the blonde's neck.

Link smiled. He wrapped his arms around Harry and squeezed. "No of course I don't," he rubbed his cheek against the raven's hair.

They slowly let go of each other. Harry turned. "Now we're supposed to go past the guillotine blade. Jump to the invisible platform and then wait until the other invisible platform has moved in position so we can jump over to that. Then we can walk through the next door," he looked up at Link. The blond didn't look to happy about the information but he followed him anyway. The next room was full of spikes.

Harry grabbed Link's arm. He looked at the silver rupees."O.K. Link I agree with you the silver rupees are bloody annoying," he said. He closed his eyes and focused his magic on the rupees. They gleamed and vanished. The bars on the door to their left disappeared.

Link moved along the wall. He cut down the redead. When he opened the door, however, Harry looked over. "Don't bother. I've grown tired of playing their stupid game. Let's just go on ahead," he said and walked up to the platform with the next door and looked back at Link.

The blond shrugged he took a step forward before he stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"You can just come straight here," Harry told him impatiently.

Link rolled his eyes but he did walk up to the raven.

"Hookshot," Harry held his hand out.

Link withdrew the weapon and gave it to him. The raven aimed and fired. He handed the hookshot back and leaned against the blond.

Link chuckled. He looked up and realised that he couldn't actually see the target that the raven had aimed for. Shaking his head in amusement he wrapped an arm around the smaller teen and pulled them up. He watched as Harry placed a hand on the lock. A yellow glow spread over the lock and the metal melted running down the door.

"Couldn't you have started doing that earlier?" Link whined into the raven's hair.

"It wouldn't have been much of a challenge if I did. And one of the reasons we're going through these temples is so that you can grow you know," Harry said as he opened the door.

There was a majestic ship floating in the air before them. From the figurehead hung two golden bells a red shawl covered the head and shoulders of the skeletal figure. Metal beams created a ribcage paten around the ship's bow. They managed to climb up to a ledge level with the ship's deck.

Link walked forward. There was a woman standing next to the symbol of the royal family. She was facing away from them. Her blond hair was swaying in a non-existent breeze. 'I hopped you would come one day… my son,' she said her voice soft and melodic.

Link took a step forward. "Mom?"

The woman laughed it seemed like the sound came from far away. She turned. 'Yes my dear,' she said. Lifting her arms to her son, she gave him a brilliant smile.

Link walked up to her reached out and touched her face with a teary smile. "Hi mom," he reached out and hugged her.

'Link,' she whispered.

Harry, who was standing a few feet away from the two, was the only one of them who seemed to notice when the ship started moving.

Chirp!

Kling!

Chirp!

Kling!

He looked over at the two blonds. There was something wrong about that woman. Why was she even here to begin with? She had died in Kokiri Forest hadn't she? He looked out over the purple mist surrounding them. The raven froze as he realised that the ship was starting to get dragged down by the lost souls of the temple.

"Shit," he turned around "Link you have to come here!" he called desperately.

The blond turned around slowly. He blinked sluggishly at Harry but he didn't move. The woman behind him gave the raven a vicious smile. Her face twisting into one of horror.

"Mom," the blond said distantly.

"Yes dear."

"I don't want to leave you."

She smirked at Harry. "You don't have to dear," she said fondly.

Harry strode forward. He reached out and caught Link's hand in his.

'Leave the boy alone.' 'Can't you see that he likes it here,'

'Stay with us,' 'Don't go,' 'Let's dance…please,'

The voices got louder around Harry. He looked up at Link and bit his lip.

'You can't take my baby away. He wants to be with his mommy,' the blond wraith said.

Link turned to her and smiled dreamily.

Harry grabbed the blonde's chin and turned his head back towards him.

'There is nothing you can do boy. He won't listen to you…' she fell silent.

Harry had stood up on his tip-toes and kissed the blond. He wrapped his arms around Link's shoulders holding on tightly. "Come with me," he whispered against taller teen's lips as he went for air.

Link's eyes were clearing slowly. He blinked. "Harry what's going on?" he breathed confused.

The raven smiled softly. "We need to leave," he said calmly moving his hands down. Link squeezed his hands reassuringly showing that he'd be right along with him. Harry walked over to the ships side as it stopped. They jumped off just in time for the ship shook and sank only seconds after they landed on firm ground.

"Was that really my mother?" Link asked distracted.

"I doubt it," Harry answered. "Your mother wouldn't have wanted her son to be lost forever in the darkness," he rubbed his thumb over the back of Link's hand.

"Yeah I guess you're right," the blond said and shook his head trying to clear it. He looked around there were gaps on either side of the land they were standing on. One of them had been the gap the ship had disappeared down. The other it seemed like they would need to cross somehow. He raised his bow and fired an arrow at a cluster of bomb flowers.

BOOM, boom

boom

Crack!

The grand bird statue standing next to the bomb flowers fell forward. Its beak dug into the ground before them with a bang.

Harry jumped in fright. He turned to look at what happened. His heart was raising a mile a minute.

"Shhh," Link tugged the raven closer and hugged him tightly. He ran his hand through the black locks soothingly.

"Don't scare me like that Link," Harry said shakily. He brushed his cheek against the blonds chin.

Link smiled. "Promise," he said before he bent down and captured Harry's lips clumsily.

The raven started laughing and he had to lower his head. He reached up and ran his fingers through the hair at the nape of Link's neck. He pecked the blond on the lips before he said, "Come on let's kill this stupid boss now."

They strode over the fallen bird and up to the boss door.

* * *

><p>When the teens landed on the Triforce inside the Chamber of Sages they were bruised. The bone of Harry's left arm was sticking out awkwardly as the arm hung limply by his side.<p>

_'__Finally,'_ Link thought relived. _'Din that boss was annoying…and disturbing. What by the Deku Tree's roots was up with the giant drum,'_ he tightened his hold on the raven mindful not to come in contact with the broken arm. _'Bongo-bongo was a fitting name though. Even if it seemed a bit childish somehow.'_

Impa was standing before them. She studied them for a moment.

"Well met Link, Harry it is reassuring to see that you have come this far relatively unharmed," she said as she levelled her gaze with Harry's eyes.

"Lady Impa," the raven said respectfully with a small bow.

She nodded and turned her eyes to Link. "We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule for generation as attendants. It was for that reason my duty bound me to take Zelda out off Ganondorf's reach. That is the last time I saw you. You were just a lad... Now I see that you have become a fine hero," she told him.

He bowed his head slightly acknowledging the praise.

"Harry you have done well thank you for your hard work but please remember that this isn't over yet," she advised.

"I'm aware of that Lady Impa we'll do our best to make things right," he said with a blank look on his face.

It looked like the Sheikah wanted to say something else.

_'__Probably concerning my threat to Zelda,'_ Harry thought.

But she chose not to instead she said, "Soon, you'll meet Princess Zelda face-to-face. That is when we, the six Wise Ones, will seal up the Evil King and return peace to Hyrule," she nodded as if she'd decided something "I have to stay here. You two go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf. I'll put my power, which should be helpful to you, into this Medallion!" She held out a purple roundel which Link accepted from her.

The familiar blue light surrounded them. Impa's voice was lost to them, however, as they left the chamber.

Landing on the pad outside off the tomb the teens breathed out in relief. There was only one temple to go now and they were looking forward to this being done and over with.

"Impa doesn't understand just how close we are does she?" Link contemplated. The Sheikah had told him they'd meet Zelda soon but he knew they'd already met her. Several times at that.

"No I doubt it," Harry looked to the sky. "They gave me a mission and she probably thinks that I'll follow it to the T," he said with a shrug.

"You weren't supposed to tell me," the blond smirked.

"Of course not. You could be a security risk after all," Harry had puffed up and raised an eyebrow.

Link started laughing. The raven looked ridiculous like that. "So were to next?" he asked Harry when he'd stopped laughing. He wiped his eyes.

"It's to the goddess of sand now," the raven answered.

"That's in the desert where Ganondorf the Evil King was born!" Navi piped out.

"Yes it is," Harry rolled his eyes.

"So to Gerudo Desert or something," Link exclaimed and started marching off. Harry's clear laughter following him.

**_"_****_At least the desert will be warm," _**Zant grumbled. He had spent the past two temples wrapped tightly around Harry in a desperate try to keep warm.

**_"_****_Yes it'll be warm… maybe too warm," _**Harry scratched the serpent's head affectionately.


	14. Cackling Hags

**Cackling Hags**

A/N: You get this a day early because I won't have access to a computer for the weekend.

Warning: Lime

* * *

><p><em>'<em>_Well warm might have been an understatement,'_ Harry thought as they walked through the ravine leading to the desert.

The teens had spent several days travelling. Mostly because they didn't feel like they were in much of a hurry. They had talked and laughed and fooled around like back when they were kids in Kokiri Forest. But somehow innocent closed mouthed kisses had become a frequent event.

Harry had no idea how that had happened but he wasn't complaining. He'd let Link set the pace and if the blond wanted to kiss then why shouldn't he agree to it. Somewhere at the back of his head a voice was telling him that their behaviour was completely inappropriate. Link was still a kid in a teen's body, but he didn't listen. Well he didn't listen very closely at least. The blond was perfectly capable of making his own decisions after all. Next to him Link stopped and he returned his awareness to here and now.

They were standing below a small cliff and the Gerudo guards were moving back and forth above them. They had agreed that it would probably be best to save the carpenters being held in the fortress.

Harry knew that Gerudo didn't like outsiders much so the men would most likely be killed once they served their purpose.

Of course Link just had to ask what the carpenters purpose was which had led to Harry telling him about the birds and the bees or something along those lines. The explanation still had Link shuddering. He did not want to get caught. Though, Harry had assured him that if they got locked up or some such rot he'd just get them out. Even if he had to blow the place apart to do it.

"Let's not take the stairs shall we," Harry whispered as he looked up. "They are probably guarding those quite well."

Link nodded and they moved on along the bottom of the cliff side. Walking around a corner they saw a woman walking back and forth. Harry raised his hand and sent off a spell. She collapsed in a heap her spear clattering to the ground. With their senses on high alert and moving as quietly as possible, the two boys sprinted over to the nearest doorway.

The room they entered was a prison cell. One of the carpenters was standing inside.

Link walked up to him.

"Hey you I've no idea where you come from, but you must have a lot of guts to make it past the guards around here. All of my fellow carpenters are imprisoned somewhere in here. If you can get us out off here, we'll repay you somehow! But be careful there're sure to be Gerudo guards somewhere around here…"

A woman appeared a few feet away from Harry. She was focusing on his blond friend. He smirked stupid bitch hadn't seen him. He pulled out his sai and moved forward piercing her back with the sharp thin blades. She screamed.

"You should keep a better watch on your surroundings," Harry said before he pulled the blades out and let her limp body fall to the floor. He wiped his sai off as Link walked up to him.

The blonde's expression seemed to change between amusement and worry. He clasped Harry's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

Harry raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Link wasn't sure what to say at first. Harry had never really been violent before so his behaviour just now confused him. Yeah sure the raven had killed monsters and told Ruto off and stuff like that but he'd never sounded so vicious before now. He wouldn't ask why the smaller teen had attacked the woman that was obvious. "You O.K. Harry?" he asked instead.

The raven blinked and then he smiled reassuringly. He understood why the blond asked. "Yeah I'm fine. They…" he motioned to the body on the floor, "aren't going to hurt you though. I won't let them," his brows furrowed, determination shining in his eyes.

Link let his head tilt. Sometimes he didn't understand Harry.

They let the carpenter out off the cell and left the room.

…

It wasn't until they found the third carpenter that Link understood the reason for Harry's cruel behaviour. The raven had been the one who walked up to that carpenter and the Gerudo had appeared just like before. Only this time Link had been the one to watch her walk up to Harry's unguarded back. His blood boiled. _'Oh no, you don't,'_ he thought as he drew his sword. He walked up behind her the blade glowing faintly and slashed her back open in one swift strike. He reached out over her dying body and grabbed the raven pulling him close in a protective embrace. Somehow this was worse than when they'd been threatened by monsters. He didn't quite know why – but it was. Maybe it was because these women could do so much more to them then just kill them like the monsters. He had no intention of seeing Harry tortured or raped by the Gerudo. That was probably why he was feeling so protective of the smaller teen.

The fourth carpenter wasn't too hard to find and since they had now defeated three Gerudo guards they knew how the women operated. One of them had to talk to the prisoner before a woman would show up.

Harry walked up to the cell sai already drawn.

The man just like the ones before him started chatting about how brave they were and how they would get a reward for getting them all out. When the guard appeared Harry spun around and Link walked up behind her.

"Either you surrender now or you end up like your dear friends before you," Link hissed at her.

"In a bloody pile on the floor," Harry said. He smirked at her surprised expression.

She studied them for a moment then…

Clang!

Clang!

She dropped her scimitars to the ground. She knew what had happened to the others and she had no wish to die today.

"Good girl," Harry told her.

She broke away from them and ran out off the room. Shame filling her, shame for giving up to Men of all things. The others were never going to forgive her.

Link picked up the key she'd left behind and opened the cell door.

The carpenter thanked them and said that he'd overheard the Gerudo saying that you needed the eye of truth to cross the Haunted Wastelands. After inviting them back to the carpenters' tent sometime, the man left just like his friends.

"This is the second temple we need that blasted Eye of Truth for," Link complained.

Harry smirked at his frustrated friend.

"I've seen your fine work. To get past the guards here, you must have good thieving skills." A Gerudo much like the once they had fought stood outside of the cell they were in.

Link looked over at Harry. Was this woman praising them after they'd killed at least two of her friends? They were uncertain if the second guard they encountered had actually died or not. He was thoroughly confused by that.

"I used to think that all men, except for the great Ganondorf, were useless… but now that I've seen you. I don't think so anymore! The exalted Nabooru, our leader, put me in charge of this fortress. She is the second-in-command to the great Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo Thieves and has her headquarters in the Spirit Temple in the desert." she looked at them for a moment before she nodded to herself. "Say you must want to join us, eh?" she grinned and before they could give a response she said, "All right then! You're in from now on. Take this with it you'll have free access to all areas of the fortress," she said and handed Link a Gerudo Token.

He accepted it thinking that, _'the Gerudo training grounds sounds interesting I wonder what that is?'_

* * *

><p>The desert was windy. Not quite something Link had expected of a desert. He mentioned as much to Harry.<p>

"It's in the middle of a sandstorm they're rather common in areas this open and sandy," the raven informed him.

Link shrugged. The guard had said that they would need to cross the river of sand as their first trial. He looked around – or tried to anyway the sand kept hurting his eyes.

Harry reached out and ran his index finger over Link's brows. "So the sand will be repelled now," he said.

_'__Wow that's much better,'_ Link thought. He could actually see flags in the distance now. He brought out the hookshot and fired the hook off. They couldn't just walk over the river of sand but if they used the chain of the hookshot to keep them from being swallowed.

Harry looked over at Link and then down into the quicksand. Link's idea was sound but he needed something more than just the blonde's hand to hold on to if it was actually going to get them across. He tightened his hold on Link's hand and focused on his magic. Ribbons shot out off his arm and twirled themselves around the boys' joined hands binding them together.

Link started retracting the chain and they moved forward.

Once on the other side Harry dispelled his magic and they carefully started walking from post to post mindful not to stray from the path.

"Blasted sand you can't see a thing in this," Link grumbled as he tugged on Harry's hand making certain he still had the raven with him as they walked on. The wind was picking up and the smaller teen was having trouble keeping up. Eventually Link stopped and lifted the raven up on his back carrying him.

"There is a structure up ahead," Harry whispered in the blonde's ear.

Link grunted in response.

It turned out that the structure was a Gerudo bunker. There was a sizable stash of food and water inside. The teens decided that this would be a good place to take a rest.

…

Harry sat up slowly. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned. Looking down he could see that Link's arm was lying across his lap. He turned and smiled. Link was still sleeping. The blond looked so cute with his hair all tousled up. He ran a hand through those soft locks and rubbed the teen's cheek. Bending down, he kissed the blond lightly. He raised his head.

Green eyes met blue. Brilliant smiles spread over their faces.

Link sat up pressing his lips to Harry's. "Good morning," he said.

Harry smiled, "Morning."

They took their time getting ready to leave. There was a ghost floating above the bunker they'd been resting in. It took off as the teens approached, moving away from them. Harry started running after it holding on to Link's hand.

Finally after what felt like forever, they could see the Sand Colossus in the distance. The storm had died down and the sun was shining brightly. They could hear a strange scratching noise. They gazed out over the sand around them. Leevers were approaching them from all directions.

"Shit." They started running dodging the green monsters as they went. _'Wait,'_ Link thought _'the wall over there is cracked.'_ He took off towards the cliff wall pulling out a bomb as he went.

Harry only heard the explosion were he stood by a dried out oasis. He withdrew his violin.

**_"_****_You're going to play Master," _**Zant hissed from his position around the raven's neck.

**_"_****_Yes Zant I'm going to play,"_** Harry answered. He smiled as he placed the bow to strings and slowly drew it towards him. Gentle tones filled the air as he played, moving with the rhythm. Zant was hissing along with the melody as Harry played, just like he had when they first met.

This was the scene that Link came back out to. He smiled and ran up to the raven. He pulled out his ocarina and joined with the melody.

Eventually the song became the Song of Storms and the dry oasis filled with clean clear water. Little pink fairies appeared over the water surface. Harry reached out and one of them landed in the palm of his hand. The fairy's glow transferred to him for a moment and he felt his energy being restored.

The little pink lady jumped off his hand her wings fluttering. She was giggling sweetly winking at him.

Harry laughed. He looked up at Link. The blond had walked on ahead he was standing there frozen in place.

_'__The sand Colossus is BIG,'_ Link thought in awe as he looked up. He could understand why the Colossus was called the Goddess of Sand. She was huge with a snake wrapped around her upper body. Her hands held palms up. He felt Harry touch his shoulder shaking him out off his daze. Placing an arm around the raven's waist, he led them over to the statue – the blue aura of Nayru's Love protecting them from leevers.

The inside of the colossus had two giant cobras on either side of the stairs.

_'__And flying pots,'_ Link thought irritably.

There was text on the two cobra's hoods. It mentioned that they would need the power of silver from the past to proceed.

Harry snorted. He didn't care what the temple thought they needed. He would fix whatever annoying obstacles they'd come across – Starting with the big block covering their path. He placed a hand on the stone. Matter conversion from stone to liquid. He focused on the feel of water, how it moved, how it smelled. The rock slowly shimmered and turned pouring down and out around them.

Link smiled. The raven had handled one of these blocks inside of the Gerudo training grounds the same way before they'd obtained the ice arrows. He moved forward and killed a beamos in the room. Then he looked around; all the doors were closed. _'So, how are we supposed to proceed now then?'_ he scratched his head.

Harry walked up to him freezing the blade trap in place as he went. "What's wrong?" he leaned against Link's side.

"Uhh, doors are closed," Link motioned towards the three doors before them.

Harry smiled and pointed up.

The blond followed with his gaze. _'Ooo, switch. That explains it,'_ he thought as he raised his bow and fired. The switch turned yellow and the path opened. "Left or right?" he looked at the doors.

"You go left I'll go right," Harry answered and moved up to one of the doors.

"Sure." Link opened the left door. There was a wolfos in there which he dealt with quickly and a Triforce symbol. He walked up to it with his ocarina ready. Playing Zelda's Song reminded him that there should be a song for this temple as well. There had been one song for each temple so far after all. He would have to remind the raven to teach it to him later. He used the hookshot to gain access to the contents of the chest that had appeared when he played the ocarina. Before heading out off the room again, he took a quick look around to ensure himself that he hadn't missed anything.

Once back in the main room, Link sat down on the carpet the beamos had been standing on earlier. He looked over at the still frozen blade trap with a smirk before he let his mind wander. He sighed, things were starting to get really weird. His feelings for Harry were changing or developing maybe. He wasn't sure which. The kissing was nice but he'd had this…he didn't even want to think about it. Of course when he started there really was no stopping it. The pictures and fantasies just kept coming at that point. He blushed and bit his lip glad that the raven wasn't there. Everything was so confusing. Why was this happening to him?

"Link."

A warm hand landed on his shoulder as Harry kneeled down in front of him. The blond looked up embarrassment clear on his face. _'Why did Harry have to get back now,'_ he thought panicked.

"Talk to me Link," the raven reached out and touched the blonde's face gently. Brushing his fingers down the other's cheek he said, "I can help you."

Link's face turned, if possible, even redder. He nibbled his lip nervously. _'How am I supposed to explain this,'_ he wondered as Harry moved closer. He shuffled back _'If he gets closer he…'_

Harry sat down in the blonde's lap. He froze, _'that's why he moved back,'_ he realised. He relaxed again and hugged Link tightly.

Link was perplexed, _'Harry froze so he noticed but now he's hugging me. What…'_ The blond looked down at his friend. He let his head rest against the raven locks. "Harry?" he said uncertainly after a while.

The raven shifted slightly and looked up his head resting on Link's shoulder. He touched the blonde's cheek moving a few strands of hair up behind the other's ear.

"I…I don't," Link tried desperately to voice his problem.

"Don't worry its normal," Harry said reassuringly.

Link blinked. "Normal," he bit his lip "Have you…" The blush was back full force.

"Yes it's a normal part of growing up to…" Harry thought about it for a moment "discover about it and usually guys either talk to each other or to their father or father figure about it," he placed his wandering hand over the blonde's heart. He pushed the teen back and moved.

Link looked up at the raven as the smaller teen's weight settled over his abdomen. "Wha…?"

"Shhh," Harry placed a finger over the blonde's lips cutting him off. He moved up placing his hands on the taller teen's shoulders. He lowered his head. Lips were pressed together softly at first but it didn't take long for Harry to deepen it. Lapping his tongue over rosy lips and asking for entrance.

Link's hands slowly came to rest at the raven's waist as the smaller teen's tongue explored his mouth. Eyes closed. They felt nothing but tongue against tongue and hands roaming over fabric. There was only them nothing else mattered.

Harry shifted his hips. He moaned into the kiss as his semi hard-on brushed against Link.

The blonde's eyes opened wide as the motion was repeated. _'That feels so good,'_ he thought as he arced up to meet the raven's pelvis. He closed his eyes again focusing on the new sensation. Their lips separated both boys panting lightly as they kept their hips moving. Harry started trailing butterfly kisses down the blonde's chin and neck. Only stopping to lap at the Adam's apple. Link groaned and tightened his grip on the raven's waist. His fingers were digging into the fabric of the tunic.

Their breathing became more and more erratic as euphoria enveloped them.

"Aaahhh," Harry slumped forward as he came, jerking uncontrollably Link following not far behind him.

They lay there chest to chest allowing their breathing to return to normal. Harry could hear the beating of Link's heart where he lay. He closed his eyes lazily listening as the beating slowed.

Link tightened his hold on the raven. He was staring at nothing thinking about what had just happened. It had felt great. He still didn't understand a good deal of what was going on but it didn't matter. Not when Harry could make him feel like that. So good. He closed his eyes.

They drifted off. Exhaustion pulling them deeper into the abyss. It would be hours before either woke.

…

"Urg, note to self…" Harry sat up slowly, "don't fall asleep after sex without cleaning first." He grimaced at the feel of dried spunk. Luckily for him, he was a wizard or well whatever. Either way it was easy for him to clean them up without the need to undress. He placed a hand on Link's cheek and kissed him soundly. "Time to wake up sleepyhead," he said.

There was no reaction.

Harry smirked evilly. He held a hand out and the air above the blonde's face shimmered before water appeared there.

Splash!

Harry had let go.

"Arrrgg," Link sat up wide-eyed his hair dripping water down on the carpet. His eyes narrowed as his brain caught up with him. Launching forward, he started tickling the raven mercilessly.

"No… please… stop …" Harry managed to get out between peals of laughter.

There was no chance Link would stop though. The evil raven deserved it. Harry's tunic rose higher revealing the tanned skin of his stomach. He blinked_ 'Are those bruises?' _he thought as he studied the soft skin. He'd stopped tickling Harry now. Running his fingers down the teen's side, he realised that the marks came from his fingers. _'I hurt him,'_ he thought, furious with himself.

Harry, who didn't quite understand what had happened, sat up. He looked down at his abdomen and blinked surprised at the purple marks there. He looked up at the blond. Seeing the look on the other teen's face, he reached out. "It's O.K. Link don't worry about it," he said softly.

"I hurt you," Link bit his lip while looking down at his hands dejectedly.

Harry sighed. "I'm fine don't worry about it," he said.

"But…"

"No buts. I'm fine," Harry's voice was firm not leaving any room for contradiction. He stood up slowly. "We should get going don't you say?" he looked down at the blond.

Link nodded slowly and allowed the raven to pull him up to his feet. Harry gave him a peck on the lips and walked up to the locked door wondering why he hadn't just melted the stupid lock this time.

…

Flying urns and cobra mirrors.

The suns gave them the creeps with the way they smiled crazily.

There was another statue within the temple. This one was coloured though. Navi thought her face looked evil but the teens couldn't see it. The statue was beautiful with the long green cobra wrapped around her body.

Zant stuck his head out off Harry's neckline. The little serpent had been hissing in the raven's ear for a while now making the poor teen blush something awful. He was never having Zant around when they had sex again. The snake studied the statue for a moment. **_"Lady of serpents guide our path,"_** he hissed. There was a strange rumble and the red gem on the statue's chest started glowing. The light faded and the jewel was gone.

Link looked at the small entrance for a moment. He turned to Harry "Are you going there?" he asked the raven. Harry nodded. The blond sighed "Well I guess I'll better continue through the temple," he said.

Harry smiled at him. "Be careful," he said before kissing the blond and jumping down on to the floor. He walked up to the statues legs and looked up. _'We're going to have to get up there somehow,'_ he thought. He rolled his eyes. _'Am I a wizard or what?_' he shook his head in amusement. Focusing on his magic he lifted himself up to the opening created by the loss of the jewel. He climbed inside. The walls were filled with scrawls. He tried to decipher the text but the version of written parseltongue he had learned and the version he now saw before him weren't the same. He sighed. _'This will take time,'_ he thought.

The raven had been right. He could decipher the text but it was slow work. So far he had read about many things he had no clue what they were, but there had been several mentions of the woman which the statue had been modelled after. She didn't seem like the kind of person he'd like to meet to be honest. The text had several times informed him to use fire against ice and ice against fire, though. Not that he quite understood why that was important but he'd remember it anyway.

Zant had taken off just moments after they had entered the place. It wasn't until the little serpent returned that Harry truly realised the value of the chamber. **_"There is a secret door over here Master," _**the snake hissed.

Harry turned and followed his familiar. The serpent was right there was something strange with this part of the wall. He pressed his palm against the stone. **_"Reveal your secrets," _**he hissed as he pushed magic into the stone.

Somewhere something clicked. A scroll was hidden in the small compartment they had revealed.

Harry took it out and looked at it. The sound of rolling chains alerted him of the fact that there was something happening outside. He walked back out.

Link was sitting on a small platform hanging from the ceiling. He was dangling his legs. The blond smiled as Harry bent his knees. He jumped up and grabbed Link's outstretched hand.

They were soon standing on top of the sunbathed platform.

"Nice shield," Harry said as he saw the red rimmed reflective shield.

"Yeah it is, isn't it," Link smiled he raised his arm and the suns reflection hit the face of the statue. It cracked and crumbled. They could see the boss lock now.

The room they entered didn't look like a boss room. It just didn't seem grand enough.

"That's another iron knuckle," Link said. "I've fought one of those before."

"Mmhmm, what about the hags then?" Harry said questioning.

"What hags…" Link trailed off as one of the old women turned. _'How did I not see them before now?' _Link was confounded.

"Hohoho! Looks like someone is here, Koume," she said.

The other turned "Hee hee hee! Looks like it, Kotake!" she said with a toothless grin.

Link grimaced. _'Great do we need to beat the crap out off old ladies now,_' he thought.

The two hags mounted their brooms. "How outrageous of them to intrude so boldly into our temple."

"We should teach these outrageous fellows a lesson," they cackled. Separating the two turned and spoke to the iron knuckle, "Oh, loyal minion…" "Destroy the intruders on our behalf!" they ordered before the two disappeared in puffs of smoke. Blue and orange.

Link swung his sword in anticipation. A small smirk danced on his lips

There is something's strange," Navi called out. "This is not an ordinary enemy!"

Harry looked at the fairy. His brows furrowed and he turned his head focusing on the armoured enemy before them. She was right something was strange about this knight.

Link, however, had already sprinted up to the big axe wielding foe and danced out off the weapon's path. He stabbed the iron knuckle and ducked as the axe passed over his head.

Harry watched well aware of the fact that his small sai would only do damage to the body he could sense beneath the armour. Something he wasn't overly certain was a good idea.

Link dealt another blow to the armour. He was sweating lightly from the all the running around but it was the best way not to get hit. "Shit," he exclaimed as he stumbled on the carpet they were fighting on. The iron knuckle raised its axe and slammed it straight towards the blond.

Harry raised a hand his magic responding to his feelings _'Protect,'_ he thought desperately. A green shield sprung into existence around Link catching the double-bladed axe mid swing. The raven closed his eyes momentarily taking a shaky breath to calm himself. The magic surrounding Link didn't falter and throughout the rest of the battle he was protected.

As the iron knuckle lost more and more of its armour soft skin could be seen under the heavy metal. Tan smooth skin like the ladies of the Gerudo.

"Link stop you'll hurt her," Harry suddenly called out. He'd realised that the person beneath the armour was with all certainty the Sage for this temple, Nabooru. Rushing forward he placed his hands against the remaining metal. It melted under his palms revealing the slim but muscular body of a Gerudo warrior.

Link, who had frozen in place at Harry's words, were staring in wonder at the redhead. To the difference of regular Gerudo, who wore purple, and the ladies they had fought while freeing the prisoners, who wore red. This Gerudo had white garb. She also wore a lot more jewellery than normal Gerudo with a fiery-orange stone on her brow just like Ganondorf. She was staring in shock at nothing in particular. "Unnh… Where am I…?" she asked trembling slightly.

A strange sound reached the boys ears just before Kotake showed up. "Well, well looks like she's back to normal… Koume," she said.

"She's just a little girl, but she commands a lot of respect among the Gerudo, Kotake…" Koume said appearing in a cloud of orange smoke.

Harry looked between the two hags biting his lip in concentration. He wasn't entirely certain that he should interfere in anything they might do right now. The raven had a gut feeling that they would be the temple boss. Ice against fire. Fire against ice.

The hags were talking again. "Maybe we should make her work for the great Ganondorf for a little while longer!"

"Then we should brainwash her again." They cackled before sending of a magic surge at Nabooru and disappearing once more.

"So now we beat the crap out off the old ladies," Link said as he looked over at Harry.

The raven nodded "Yeah, but first…" He walked over to the blond and reached out. Their lips crashed together in a searing kiss leaving them both breathless. He smiled at his friend and got a cocky smirk in response. "So blue or red," he asked the blond.

"Huh?"

"Want to concentrate on the blue or red hag?" he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, does it matter?" Link asked confused.

"Yeah, the blue one uses ice and the red one uses fire you'll have to fight them with the opposite element," Harry explained.

"Mhhm," Link taped his chin. "I'll take the blue one," he finally decided.

Harry nodded and opened the door to the next room. Now this looked like a boss room – completely useless. There were a set of platforms one much bigger than the rest. He looked around the symbols on the walls here matched the ones out by the statue, but these glowed and pulsed with magic. He smirked. He could use that magic to his advantage if he had to.

The two climbed up on the centre platform. The familiar sound of the hags appearing reached their ears.

Link smirked as he placed the fire charm on his bow. The blond just rolled his eyes at their threats, _'really burned to the bone great,'_ he snorted and being frozen to his soul didn't seem all that likely either.

"Remember to doge," Harry said his face serious.

Link nodded placed an arrow on the string and fired it at Kotake. "Damn it," he hissed as the arrow missed. He quickly jumped to the side as she fired of a frosty beam at him. Raising the bow once more he moved as he fired the next shot. It hit her setting her robes on fire in the process. He smirked rolled out off the way of a red beam and turned just as Harry jumped up and grabbed the hag's broom. The raven's most advanced element was ice. He'd always been better at it than the other ones. The broom handle froze at his touch. He raised his other hand and conjured a sharp ice shard. It pierced right through the hag's chest.

"Koume!" the ice hag screamed just before another arrow hit her burning her even worse than the first one. Link had figured out how to add more power to the enchantment on the bow.

"Let's use the Double Dynamite Attack Koume," Kotake yelled as she flew over to her sister. The two hags started glowing softly. Then brighter and soon there was only a single being before them.

Link groaned. "Well I can't say that their beauty increased any," he said jokingly.

Harry snorted. He couldn't help but agree with the blond.

The hags had burning and icy hair respectively but the woman before them now had pigtails one flaming one freezing. She looked a lot like the Gerudo women but with that sickly looking olive coloured skin that she shared with Ganondorf.

The hags' brooms had turned to sceptres, and Twinrova raised the burning one sending a beam of molten lava their way.

Link raised his shield and caught the magic. His shield pulsed red and warm to the touch. He narrowed his eyes.

Crackle!

He caught another fiery magic orb. And another. He could feel the shield pulsing faster now the magic was ready to leave. He held it up and aimed for the Sorceress. The flames hit her and she collapsed.

Harry was already moving, sai at the ready. He reached her and cut clearly through her right arm bicep. She wouldn't be using her fire anymore. He stepped back as the hag rose up in the air. He quickly made his way back to the blond as Link caught a frozen orb with his shield. The taller teen was smiling brightly at him. _'Nayru give me strength he can't even stay serious during a boss fight,'_ the raven thought as he turned around to face Twinrova.

"Shit," Link swore as he missed an ice spell. It was a good thing she couldn't use the other element after what Harry had done to her. He did not want to know what would have happened if she'd sent a fire spell at the ice charged shield. He caught the next one, though, and it rebounded Twinrova's power. She collapsed once more. This time both teens ran forward. Harry slashed her left arm bicep to shreds forcing her to drop her sceptre while Link burrowed his sword to the hilt in her abdomen.

She screamed. Her blood splattered over them as the blond pulled his sword out and up cutting through her stomach all the way up to her lungs.

Twinrova's body shimmered for a moment before it split into two wisps of magic.

.

One blue.

.

One orange.

.

The hags argued for a moment – apparently they couldn't agree on what age they were.

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes as the twins promised to come back and haunt them.

The two teens quickly made their way over to the blue circle allowing it to transport them to the Camber of the Sages.

Nabooru was standing before them. She thanked the two for their help and snorted at her own failure. The Gerudo was the only Sage that they hadn't met as children. It meant that she had less to tell them than the previous Sages. Nevertheless, she did add her power to Link's in a promise to fight Ganondorf as a Sage.

Link was flipping the Spirit Medallion as the two walked down the steps from the temple entrance. Before they had left the Chamber of the Sages completely Rauru, the Sage of Light, had spoken to him. The man had instructed them to travel to the Temple of Time in order to meet with one who has been waiting for them.

_'__So we're finally going to meet Zelda for real again,'_ Link thought as they readied their instruments. The teens had decided to travel to Lake Hylia and go from there even though they could easily travel straight to the Temple of Time.


	15. Save the World

**Save the World**

Even Heroes deserve some rest. At least Link thought so as he and Harry lay side by side on the small island in the middle of Lake Hylia. Hand in hand the two were gazing at the clouds seeing dragons and bunnies and Dekus against the blue sky. They were laughing and chatting both willing to simply forget what they would face next. The green grass beneath them. The setting sun in the west.

Calm

Content

They would leave in the morning.

To fight Ganondorf.

Link shifted closer to the raven. He wrapped his arms around the other's waist holding him tightly – unwilling to let go. They would fall asleep like that. Harry's head resting against Link's chest. Link's face was being brushed gently by raven locks. Legs tangled together, they wouldn't wake until…

…

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

A cucco woke them up. Untangle and undress. The water was clear blue. There was no hurry to their movements as they cleaned and got ready.

"To the Temple of Time then," Link said before he withdrew his ocarina. Playing Epona's Song he called both their steed to them. They mounted and trotted off, leaving the calm behind.

Nervous that's what Link was feeling as they made their way towards Castle Town. Ganondorf had seemed cool when he was a kid. Now, though, he'd rather turn around and go back to Lake Hylia and the calm they had shared there. He ran a hand through his hair messing it up. He could feel warmth beside him. Harry had moved Seidan closer. Their legs were brushing against each other from time to time allowing the blond to feel safer.

Harry was here there was no need to worry. They could do this. Together.

…

Castle Town looked just like Link remembered it. The redeads were loitering around the town square.

"Let's just pass by," Harry said his voice tense.

Link nodded he had no wish to fight the zombies today. As they came closer to the temple the blond took a firm hold of the raven's hand.

Harry ran his thump over the back of the blonde's hand soothingly.

The interior of the Temple of Time was the only thing in Castle Town that still looked the same as it had in their youth. They walked in further passing the warp pad with the light emblem on it.

"I have been waiting for you," Sheik's voice came from behind them.

Link spun around quickly making Harry stumble as he pulled the raven with him.

"Link, the Hero of Time. You have overcome many hardships and awakened six Sages," the Sheikah said seriously.

Link, who had relaxed slightly upon seeing the shadow warrior, rolled his eyes. _'Like I did all the work,'_ he thought.

"And now you have a final challenge, a showdown with Ganondorf, the King of Evil…" Sheik said.

Link was getting annoyed. He didn't see the reason for the staling. Why not just tell him who she really was and be done with it. And really it was a challenge to defeat the King of Evil? Harry was right the princess was a bit overdramatic at times. If taking care of Ganondorf was a challenge he would rather just leave it to someone else thank you very much. He glared half-heartedly at the Sheikah.

"Before that I have things I want to tell you. Please listen," the red eyes were pleading.

"Yeah sure go ahead," Link said with a sigh.

Harry snorted._ 'Really Link impatient much,' _he thought amused.

"There is another unknown legend of the Triforce passed down by the Shadow Folk…"

Link tuned her out this didn't really matter did it. And even if it did Harry would know the important parts already. He leaned his head against raven locks and closed his eyes, breathing in slowly.

The raven smiled _'Link is ignoring Zelda. She'll go nuts if she finds out,'_ he tried to suppress a chuckle. He cuddled closer to the blond breathing in his unique scent.

It seemed like Zelda had finally reached the end of her little tale. Harry nudged Link lightly to get him to focus again.

The blond blinked lazily and looked back up at the Sheikah.

"… he laid his hands on the Triforce, the legend came true. The Triforce separated into three parts. Only the Triforce of Power remained in Ganondorf's hand."

Link raised an eyebrow. _'So the evil king only has one part of the Triforce, neat.' _He linked his fingers with Harry's over the raven's stomach.

"The strength of the Triforce of Power has enabled him to become a mighty, evil king, but his dark ambitions were not satisfied."

_'__You don't say,'_ Link snorted.

"To gain complete mastery of the world, Ganondorf started looking for those chosen by destiny to hold the two other Triforce parts. The one who holds the Triforce of Courage is you, Link!" Sheik informed the blond.

Link whistled. _'Well that's cool,'_ he thought.

"And the other, who holds the Triforce of Wisdom, is the seventh Sage. The one destined to be the leader of them all…" a yellow glow surrounded the Sheikah and as it faded away Zelda stood before them. "It is I, the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda. I apologise for meeting you in disguise, but it was necessary to hide from the King of Evil. Please forgive me…"

Harry looked skywards and Link smiled. "It's O.K. I've known it was you for a while now Princess," he informed her.

Zelda seemed shocked "How…?"

Harry snorted. "You really think that I wouldn't tell him huh?" he said.

She seemed taken back.

Harry smirked. _'Oh no she forgot her script. Such a nice little speech all forgotten.'_

The princess tried to gather her thoughts again. She looked a little lost for a while. "After you opened the door of time and the Master Sword sealed you away in the Sacred Realm. Ganondorf got his hands on the Triforce by invading the Sacred Realm. This I had not expected. He gained his powers because of an unfortunate coincidence. Had we acted differently this had never happened," she looked solemn.

"It's a bit late to think about that now isn't it your highness," Harry shook his head in frustration.

"And don't try the guilt trip on Link either he already knows what we've been up to."

Zelda took a step back in surprise. She knew that the raven disliked the way everyone had pinned their hopes on Link instead of doing something themselves. She hadn't expected him to still be annoyed at her though. Maybe he was right. She sighed she'd been ready to bemoan her need to run around looking like Sheik. "We can defeat Ganondorf now," she gazed at them pleadingly. "The six Sages will open the sealed door and lure Ganondorf back into the Sacred Realm. I can then seal the door to the Sacred Realm from this world."

"Sounds like a plan I guess," Link said with a shrug. He looked down at Harry. The raven tightened his hold on the blonde's hand, but he didn't say anything.

"Link… In order to do this. I need your courage again. Please protect me while I do my part. And use this weapon it can penetrate the Evil King's defences," Zelda held out a charm to Link.

He blinked. It was a bow enchantment shining a faint golden colour in the palm of his hand.

The temple started rumbling startling the three teens. Harry closed his eyes and pushed his magic senses out. "Shit," hissed just before Zelda was enclosed in a pinkish crystal.

Ganondorf's voice could be heard. "Princess Zelda you foolish traitor! I commend you for avoiding my pursuit for seven long years. But you let your guard down... I knew you would appear if I let this kid wander around!"

Link took a step forward.

"There is no use we're gonna have to do this the hard way Link," Harry said and the blond stopped.

Zelda's brows furrowed. _'What is going on why aren't they doing something?'_ she thought panic rising in her chest.

"My only mistake was to slightly underestimate the power of this kid," Ganondorf said as the crystal lifted from the ground. "No... It was not the kid's power I misjudged; it was the power of the Triforce of Courage! But, with the Triforce of Wisdom that Zelda has." He paused for a moment. "When I obtain these two... Then, I will become the true ruler of the world! If you want to rescue Zelda, come to my castle!" the crystal faded away.

Link stared at the spot where Zelda had been for a moment in irritation before he turned to Harry. "There was nothing you could have done?" he questioned the raven.

Harry arched an eyebrow. "No there was nothing I could have done. He wasn't actually here and putting up a proper ward would have taken time. Time we didn't have since Zelda just showed up," his tone was vexed.

Link bit his lip. He reached out and pulled Harry close. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" he whispered into raven locks.

Harry sighed. He buried his face in the blonde's tunic and wrapped his arms around the taller teen's neck. "We should get going," he said quietly not wanting to let go.

"Hmm," Link tightened his grip holding the raven close for a moment before slowly letting go.

"Come on let's go kick Ganondorks butt yeah," he said with a smile.

"Ganondork?" Harry took the offered hand in his.

"Yeah I thought it suited him," Link chuckled softly.

Harry sighed.

* * *

><p>The Sages helped the raven and blond across abyss beneath Ganon's Castle. A rainbow bridge formed from their power. Link looked at the magic. <em>'That feels sooo safe,'<em> he thought sarcastically. Looking down through the transparent magic he tried to pull himself together.

"Come on now Link it's O.K. come on out here," Harry said with a smirk. He remembered Link saying something similar back when he'd first arrived in Kokiri Forest.

Link huffed and marched up to the raven. They made their way into the dreary castle.

"He's got a purple carpet," Link stated.

"Hmm," Harry was heading down the stairs. He wasn't all that interested in the interior design of melodramatic evil king's castles.

"Beamos," he called back to the blond.

BOOM…..boom

BOOM….boom

The beamos exploded.

Before them now was a high powered ward. Harry looked around. There were six beams of light connected to the centre structure. They would have to remove those to go any further.

_'__He isn't a very smart evil king,'_ the raven thought, _'placing the locks so they can be accessed from the outside like this.' _Out loud he asked "Spirit or Forest?" pointing towards the two closest doors.

Link turned left then right. "Forest," he said and headed left.

Harry walked up to the Spirit emblem. _'Silver rupees it's probably a good thing I took this one,'_ he thought as he summoned the stones. The next room held two torch slugs which the raven simply froze solid and a switch. He hit the switch turning it yellow.

"Bombchus," he sighed and looked up. He snorted and placed his hand against the bars. They melted away from his path allowing him to simply pass without opening the stupid door. He turned a corner and was greeted by the sight of sun switches. Closing his eyes he let his magic surround him. He located the magic in the suns and activated the correct one. Bars disappeared allowing him to continue. Studying the magic field before him he tapped his chin with his index finger. He tilted his head in concentration and touched the power core. Nabooru appeared before him. She urged him to hurry and sent him back out.

"Saria says good luck," Link told him making the raven smile sadly.

They split up again Link heading to the Water trial and Harry to the Shadow one.

The blond groaned as he realised that the water trial was in fact ice not water. It was cold. Icicles started falling from the ceiling almost immediately startling him. He walked forward and cut the ice to shards.

"Shit!" Two freezards had appeared from nowhere almost hitting him with their frosty breaths. He rolled out off the way and charged his blade. Blue, he cut straight through the animated ice. Gathering some cold flames he melted the warm ice to proceed.

It was freezing in the next room. Link realised that he would need to act quickly unless he'd like to become an ice sculpture. Upon seeing the red ice he cursed before heading back out to collect the necessary fire.

_'__Stupid blocks,'_ he thought as he pushed them in place. He pulled out the megaton hammer to bash in a rusty button.

He glared at the stupid magic as he entered the following room. It had taken him forever to figure out how to deal with this thing last time. Raising his bow he fired a light arrow at the core. Ruto appeared and sent him back out.

* * *

><p>They made their way up the many stairs. The Fire and Light trials they had entered and dealt with together after Harry had converted stone again.<p>

There had been a bit of a wrestling match before they had entered the main tower. The stupid entrance had looked like it wanted to eat them. Harry shuddered. Link had called him a wimp which had led to the two of them rolling around on the floor.

Harry was jerked out off his musings as Link slammed him up against a wall. He tried to regain his lost air when the blond pressed their lips together. His eyes opened wide in shock before he calmed down to the pleasant sensation. He moaned loudly as Link found a sensitive spot behind his ear. Hands were travelling up his abdomen beneath the cloths. Mapping out his skin leaving hot burning trails behind. Harry desperately tried to find something to hold on to. Grabbing the blonde's tunic in an iron grip, he opened his mouth inviting the probing tongue in. "Mmmm," he moaned.

Link was pressing against him creating oh so wonderful friction. "Don't stop," Harry breathed.

The blond smirked in satisfaction. He tightened his hold on the smaller teen and breathed in _'Harry smells good,'_ he thought. The raven's legs had wrapped tightly around his waist.

They were rubbing erratically against each other as completion came closer. Harry's look of euphoria pushed Link over the brink his legs almost giving out under them. Their breathing slowly steadied and Harry let his magic clean them up. He looked up meeting Link's fond gaze. "Where did that come from?" he asked tenderly.

Link shrugged. "We might be dead in a couple hours," he smiled. "I just thought it was a good idea." He was running a finger down the raven's cheek gently.

Harry laughed and wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders. He leaned in and kissed the taller teen. "I love you," he whispered.

Link's face broke out in a smile bright enough to match the sun and pulled the raven closer. "I love you too," he said softly holding the smaller teen tightly.

After they'd let go the teens clasped hands and looked up at the boss door. "After this we'll leave Hyrule right?" Link said tightening his hold on the raven's hand.

"Yeah, we'll leave," Harry looked up at the blond. "I've promised Master Salazar that I would help him with something. It would mean that we'd leave this world altogether though."

"You mean we'd go to your world?" Link asked. He was surprised that Harry would want to go back there considering what he knew about the place…or rather how the raven had been treated there.

"Yeah, Father built a school in Britain and he wants to fix the protections there it's just that he's from about a thousand years in the past so he can't go himself so I said I'd help," Harry was watching the blonde's facial expression. A small part of him feared that Link wouldn't want to come with him; that the blond wouldn't want to leave this world for good.

Link frowned so Salazar was somehow Harry's father. The raven hadn't said anything about that earlier. _'Can I just leave this place completely?'_ the blond wondered. He looked down into the green depths of Harry's eyes._ 'I have everything I need right here,' _he thought making him mind up.

"I'll go with you," he said out loud.

Harry smiled at him. "Thank you," he said gratefully. He placed his hand against the boss door "Father was working on finding a way for me to get back when I left. He'll probably have it worked out by now," the raven place the key into the boss lock. He turned the key around and the lock fell off with an audible click.

They walked in to the room. The first thing that greeted them was the sound of an organ playing dramatically.

Link raised an eyebrow. _'Really,'_ he thought _'what is he trying to do torture us with music.' _He snorted, _'like that is going to work.'_ The room they were in was confusing though. _'This cannot be it,'_ he looked up. The pillar standing in the centre of the room had purchases going up its full length. His brows furrowed. The ceiling seemed solid. How were they supposed to ge…

"This door opens Link," Harry called over to him.

Link turned and looked at the door _'Oh, doors in boss rooms are usually sealed shut,' _he thought. That's why he hadn't thought twice about it. Walking through the doorway Link had to shield his eyes. The light in the tower was bright. This was the first room they'd entered that had widows in it. The glass was purple but Link was certain that a small yellow sun sat in the lower left corner amongst the clouds.

While Link was getting used to the light, Harry was studying the many runes littering the walls. They were very similar to the runes he'd found inside the sand colossus but they were not parselscript. He was wondering if they would need to handle the magic he could feel pulsing beneath his finger or if they could just leave it be. Deciding that the magic wasn't going to aid Ganondorf in the upcoming battle, Harry followed Link up the winding staircase.

The light changed it went from cold to warm and the new tone bothered the raven far more than the colder light had. He closed his eyes trying to get used to it.

"Isn't this just a tad melodramatic?" Link asked as they walked up the last couple of steps of the staircase.

Harry looked around. The room they were now in could easily fit Saria's stump in it. He had to agree with Link it was a bit much.

Before the final door the teens turned to look at each other. They nodded and with determined looks they opened the door.

Ganondorf was sitting in the room playing the organ.

Now if they'd found the previous room overdramatic it didn't even compare to this one. High glass windows, all coloured differently, lined the walls and a magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Link froze as a strange feeling spread though his body. He looked down at his left hand. One of the Triforce triangles could be seen glowing brightly through his glove.

"The Triforce parts are resonating. They are combining into one once more," Ganondorf said as he stopped playing.

Link faced forward. Princess Zelda was still inside the pink crystal she'd been transported away in. She was hanging suspended in the air as a centrepiece for the gigantic organ. Poor girl having to listen to that madman play until now.

"The two Triforce parts that I could not capture on that day seven years ago… I didn't expect they would be hidden within the two of you!" the man narrowed his eyes at Link before he turned back around getting ready to stand. "And now finally, all the Triforce parts have gathered here," he said as he stood and turned dramatically making his long red cloak billow.

_'__Oh please theatrical much,'_ Harry thought as he focused his magic carving yet another rune into the stone wall. The runes would help them defeat this annoying redhead later.

"These toys are too much for you," the Evil King proclaimed before he forcefully said, "I command you return them to me!"

Harry snorted. "If you never owned them then how are they supposed to return them to you?" he asked innocently while tilting his head to the side.

The man looked at him for a moment "Quiet you little vermin or I'll silence you!" the man hissed in a threatening tone.

Harry just rolled his eyes even if he was scared it wasn't like he'd let that show no would he? Besides Ganondorf's death glare didn't even compare to Master Salazar's and he was used too that one.

Ganondorf raised his hand and a current of dark purple magic hit Link.

"Shit," the raven thought. He hadn't imagined that he'd need to use his safely precautions so early on but now he was glad they were already up. He focused on the rune pattern around the room and they started glowing. As they activated all magic in the area ceased to function and Link fell to the floor.

The room changed. The organ was gone and so was Zelda. Ganondorf was glaring at Harry none too pleased with the interruption. "You will regret that," he growled.

Harry responded by drawing his sai out. He shifted the blades around. **_"Zant, make ready," _**he hissed as he moved forward.

The evil king had started floating in the air. He raised a hand and shot of an energy ball at the raven.

Harry dodged and jumped up. His sai were glowing brightly as he spun around in the air and sent off a magic shockwave. He would have to work his way through the man's defences if Link's arrows were going to have any effect.

Link stared at the magical battle going on above him. He clutched his bow in one hand. Zelda had told him he'd need the light arrows to win this. He flinched as Harry was hit with a dark spell sending the raven crashing into a wall. The teen pushed off against the wall and cartwheeled out off the way of another spell. Link saw him crouching down.

A green light flashed through the room.

Ganondorf was lying on the floor when the blond could see once more. The man stood up slowly moving his cape out off the way. The back of his hand started glowing yellow. He glowered at Harry before he opened his fist and a red bolt zigzagged through the dense air. Harry caught it with a sai.

It wasn't the only one though. The following two bolts hit him square in the chest. Link could see blood dripping to the floor. He stepped forward worriedly. "Harry," he whispered.

Harry's breathing was getting laboured. This was harder than he'd thought it would be. He shot Ganondorf's magic back at the man. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes focusing on gathering the magic hanging in the air around him. His body started glowing until he shone so brightly Link had to cover his eyes. He shot off grabbing a hold of Ganondorf's shoulders and released the built up power. It tore through the last of the evil king's defences.

The man had placed his hand against the teen's chest, though, and as Harry's glow faded he fired a magic current point blank. The raven's body was thrown back. He crashed into a window scattering glass all over the floor.

"Harry!" Link screamed. He started running towards his fallen friend.

"Pathetic little child," Ganondorf sneered to the blonde's left.

Link stopped and turned. He placed an arrow to the string. Bright light shone. The man was kneeling on the floor his body stunned by the light magic. Link sprinted forward and drew his sword.

Slash

Cut

Stab

Ganondorf got back on his feet and the blond was pushed back with a magic wave. The man raised his hand and an energy ball came sailing through the air. Link raised his sword and hit the orb. They bounced the magic back and forth several times before it became too fast for Ganondorf to catch. The man was paralyzed by his own magic and Link withdrew an arrow. He aimed and fired.

The man fell to the floor.

Slash

Stab

Cut

Clang! Ganondorf caught the blade. He raised his hand and…

"Arrgh." Link flew back. The blond got up to his feet just in time to jumped aside. The floor tile hit by the energy ball shook and fell to the floor below with a crash.

Link caught the next spell with his blade. He sent it sailing.

Crash! A window exploded.

Ganondorf was gathering magic above his head. He sent off several orbs at once.

"Shit," Link exclaimed as he rolled out off the way. _'How am I supposed to handle those,'_ he wondered. He looked down at his blade for a split second and blinked. Then he smirked before he focused power into his sword. As the energy balls approached his he spun around sending them back.

…

By one of the broken windows raven hair was shook out off the way of glimmering green eyes. Harry blinked; blood was running down his face. He looked up to see Link running forward sword in hand.

Slash

Cut

The blond did a backflip. He twirled his sword and it started shining orange. Crouching down the blond spun and returned the magic to its caster. He raised his bow and fired an arrow as Harry stood up and shook glass out off his clothes. The raven watched as Ganondorf fell to the ground. He picked up his sai and sprinted forward. Just as Link moved his arm to stab Ganondorf Harry jumped up and buried his sai in the man's shoulders. He pushed down and blood came gushing out off the wounds.

Thud

Ganondorf collapsed.

The blond and raven stood there face to face blood dripping down their arms. A deep rumbling brought them out off their thoughts as Zelda came running up to them. "The tower is collapsing," she cried.

Link looked over at Harry and the two quickly led the way down only to stop in front of the boss door. It wouldn't budge.

"This way," Zelda told them and the two males turned to follow her. They ran down ramps running along the outside of the tower. "Why in the Great Deku Tree are these things here," Link wondered loudly.

"How am I supposed to know?" Harry responded as they speeded up. "Shit."

The ground beneath their feet started shaking. The ramp before them fell down. Harry narrowed his eyes and jumped down. He held out is arms "Come on Zelda," he called up.

The girl bit her lip nervously as Link jumped and rolled. The two male teens motioned for her to follow. She took a deep breath and then she jumped. Harry caught her. The momentum spinning them in a half circle.

Two dinolfos attacked them as they ran through the tower.

Harry drew a sai and pierced though the throat of one of the lizards whilst Link thrust his blade forward and cut the lizards gut open. They left the bleeding monsters behind rushing to get out before the castle buried them alive.

"Thanks Nayru we made it out," Link turned to face Harry. "We've saved the world," he said excitedly.


	16. Without a Trace

**Without a Trace**

Harry smiled at his enthusiastic friend. "It seems that way doesn't it," he said happily.

Behind them the remains of the castle caved in. "That's just weird," Link said. "It's like it was supposed to do that."

Harry looked at the blond for a moment. Then he remembered the runes up in the tower. "You know what? I would be surprised if that was true," he said scratching his head.

"Huh?" Link gazed out over the now flat ground. He walked forward. Standing several feet away from Harry and Zelda, he studied the terrain. It was strange that the castle had left almost no trace behind.

"LINK! Move!" Harry screamed.

The blond turned to see what had scared the raven,

Smack

He was cast back the Master Sword sent flying. It landed and a ring of fire erupted cutting Link off from the weapon. He cursed and turned. Harry and Zelda were standing on the other side of the flames as well.

Harry had stepped back as the flames came to life. He was currently hissing softly cursing under his breath. He walked up to the flames determined to reach Link.

"This is his fight Harry you need to let the Hero fight Ganon," Zelda told him.

Harry turned. "You really think that I'll let Link fight that thing," he pointed over at the beast, "on his own. What did I tell you about allowing him to get hurt Princess?" He was furious and didn't wait for an answer simply walking through the fire and marched up to his friend. "You shoot it I'll cut it deal?" he said as he stopped next to the blond.

Link looked over at him and nodded. "Deal," he said tensely.

Ganon was UGLY. The beast had the head of a boar with long curved horns. The upper body looked much like a moblins and the lower ended in hooves. He had a long scaled lizard's tail with thorns sticking out off it. The monster wielded twin blades that neither Harry nor Link had any wish to get hit by.

The blond readied his bow, waited for the right moment and fired. The light arrow sailed through the air and buried itself in the monster's chest. The beast froze allowing Harry to run forward. The raven searched for a weak spot as he dived between the monster's legs just before it started moving once more. He ducked out off the way of the tail. He blinked and smirked. The tail tip was unprotected. He jumped and vaulted as the tail swung back towards him. Landing atop of the appendix avoiding the thorns, he slashed at the soft scales.

The beast roared and slashed at Link. The blond rolled aside barely avoiding the blades as they cut off deep gashes in the ground. He got back up on his feet and fired of another arrow giving Harry the opportunity to attack once more.

As the raven landed back on the ground this time, however, Ganon turned swiftly, and his blade caught the small body throwing it to the side. Harry's magic had reacted just in time saving the raven from being cut in half, but he was having trouble breathing. He stood up slowly his head was spinning and his chest hurt. He covered his mouth with one hand coughing loudly. There was blood. He quickly grabbed one of the last of Salazar's potions and downed it swiftly.

"Harry move!" Link screamed.

The raven looked up. Ganon was currently standing before him arm raised, frozen in mid swing. Harry's eyes widened and he used a technique the Sheikah had taught him. He shadow stepped landing right next to Link and startling the blond.

"Well I guess that's moving but could you not scare the life out off me next time please," the taller teen said trying and failing to sound cheery.

Harry just rolled his eyes at the blond. Looking around he tried to locate his weapons. _'Where on earth did they end up,'_ he wondered. He was uncertain whether or not he had enough magic to summon the sai after his battle with Ganondorf.

There they were laying just at the edge of the floating island. He shadowed once more glad that Sheikahn magic and his own wizarding magic didn't work the same. He picked up the blades and turned around just in time to see Ganon slash at Link.

The blond raised his shield in defence. CRUNCH! The sound as Link's bones broke was sickening.

Harry stood there for a moment frozen in shock. 'Link,' he thought. A tear rolled down his face. Then anger filled him – white hot fury burning through his veins. He bolted forward, shadowed into mid-air and cast the beast backwards with a punch fuelled by his Sheikahn powers. He landed on the ground and turned.

Link wasn't moving. His blood was turning the green tunic brown in places.

Harry quickly made his way over. Touching the blonde's face he was relieved when he could feel the hot breath against his palm. "Link," he whispered "Link." He turned the taller teen around carefully. Link's shield arm was broken and so was his right leg. The raven could even see the bone sticking out puncturing the skin. He bit his lip and forced the tears away. He couldn't cry now Link needed his help. Searching for a potion in his belt, Harry felt panic engulf him when he couldn't find one. _'What the… I know I had more of them,' _he thought desperately.

"Harry catch!" Zelda called from across the fire as she threw something towards the boys.

The raven looked up and barely managed to catch the small translucent object. He gave a sigh in relief it was a fairy in a bottle. Letting the small creature out he could feel his energy restoring. He had never been very good at healing magic but when it mattered he could do it. Setting the blonde's leg right he focused his power at the break and carefully melded the bone back together. He was mending the muscle tissue as Link opened his eyes. "Harry," he hissed. _'Din that hurt.'_

"Yes Link," Harry was concentrating on healing the skin on the blonde's leg now.

"Ganon is coming closer," Link warned.

"Shit, I won't have the time to heal your arm," Harry got up and shadowed behind the beast only to have to dodge that annoying tail again. As it came swinging back he buried his sai deep into the scaly flesh.

Ganon roared. The monster fell to his knees.

"Link! The Master sword is here! Hurry up!" Zelda called.

Link turned. He got up to his feet and sprinted over to the blade meant to repel evil. He grabbed the sword and turned to face Ganon. The beast had stood up and was currently trying to cut Harry to pieces. Link ran forward and stabbed his blade through the monster's tail. A yellowish beam hit Ganon. Link looked to his right.

Zelda was standing there, "I'm using my powers to hold the Evil king! You use your sword and deliver the final blow," she panted.

The Master Sword glowed brightly in Link's hand for a moment and the blond stepped forward and slashed the monster's head open before he stabbed his sword straight into the skull of the beast. As he did so, Zelda called upon the Sages and together they sealed the Evil that was Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm.

When they cast the man into the abyss his voice reached them for a final time cursing the three who defeated him.

Harry limped up to his friend and the blond wrapped a protective arm around him. Feeling safe in each other's arms they stood there, breathing heavily. Link rested his head against raven locks. He breathed in slowly. The day had been long and he was exhausted. "You O.K?" he asked Harry.

"Mmmmh," the raven responded too tired to care if his body hurt. The air around them changed and soon they were standing with nothing but sky and clouds surrounding them. "Thank you, Link," Zelda said. "Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm!"

Link raised an eyebrow and Harry rolled his eyes. It wasn't like they'd done any of that for her. They certainly didn't need her to thank them.

Link was thinking that a bath would be great just about now. He was covered in blood and grime and, _'Ew, I don't even want to know what that is,'_ he thought as he studied his clothes.

"Thus, peace will once again reign in this world…for a time," the princess said.

Harry groaned._ 'We're not saving it again so don't even think about it,' _he thought. He leaned into Link's embrace. They were both hurt and would more than anything like to clean up, treat their wounds and sleep – preferably closely intertwined.

"All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing…"

_'__Oh for Farore's sake you drama queen,'_ Harry thought irritably. The oh so noble princess just had to blame herself. Well he wasn't going to stop her.

"I was so young… I could not comprehend the consequences of trying to control the Sacred Realm."

_'__Yeah cause you didn't have grown-ups that could have stopped you around did you. What was Impa thinking really?'_

"I dragged you into it, too." She seemed to actually regret that.

Link sighed he couldn't be angry with her for that. He had after all chosen to help her. He tightened his hold on Harry's waist.

The raven looked up and smiled lightly. He buried his head in the crook of Link's neck and sighed contently.

"Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes. You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time. However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed," Zelda said.

Harry blinked. _'What is that supposed to mean?'_ he wondered.

"Link, give the ocarina to me..."

The blond handed the Ocarina of Time over to her. He was slightly confused by what was going on.

"As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it."

Harry's eyes widened as Zelda said, "Now go home, Link. Regain your lost time. Home… where you are supposed to be… The way you are supposed to be," and started playing the Song of Time. He wanted to stop her but it was too late.

.

White surrounded them.

.

.

Time travelled backwards.

.

.

Things returned to the way they were supposed to be.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: That concludes part one of this story.


	17. Beneath the Stairs

**Beneath the Stairs**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Okay. I'm just fooling around in the universe. It belongs to J.K. Rowling

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* * *

><p>The shrill voice of Aunt Petunia woke Harry up the next morning. He stumbled out off the cupboard and into the kitchen, accepting the meagre breakfast his Aunt gave him. Chore after chore was handed to the raven. It was something he was so used to by now that he did it without complaining. The memory of the one time he had raised his voice against the unfairness of it all had him shuddering.<p>

The day proceeded just like any other day on number four Privet Drive.

Harry went to bed after a meagre meal of stale bread and a banana. He shifted in the dark cupboard, trying to make himself more comfortable. As he laid his head down on the fabric that substituted as a pillow, he heard a faint hiss and turned towards it.

In the dark cupboard a pale cyan light made itself known. He could hear a faint hiss again but this time he could also hear words, **_"Master… where are we?" _**

Harry squinted and tried desperately to find the source of that voice, fear filling his body. Then he saw it. There was a snake in his cupboard. He blinked. He knew this snake – his name was Zant. _'How do I know the serpent's name is Zant?' _he wondered. Gathering his courage he reached out and touched the gleaming scales. His fear diminished as he petted the snake gently. The raven quietly pondered what was going on and didn't notice himself falling asleep.

That night as Harry slept. He dreamed of green leaves and fairies. Of laughter and warm hugs he'd shared with a sapphire eyed boy, his sunshine blond hair glowed. They played and joked and they fell asleep together keeping each other warm.

…

Waking up the next morning found Harry with tears running down his face. _'Link,'_ he thought. His chest hurt. His friend was gone. He ran his hand through his hair before wiping his tears away. His eyes landed on the small serpent lying by his pillow. He reached out and touched the cyan markings. Confusion filled the raven's mind. He didn't know what had happened or how he got back here. _'How did I end up in Hyrule in the first place?'_ he wondered.

But he knew that now was not the time to think about that. Aunt Petunia would be up soon and he would need to do more chores. The raven sighed. He didn't feel like dealing with this. He petted the black and white serpent until his aunt's voice broke through the silence.

* * *

><p><strong><em>"<em>****_Master what is wrong with these people?" _**Zant asked one day.

**_"_****_They don't like me very much," _**Harry answered. Vernon had been shouting at him for Din knows how long now. The raven didn't care anymore though. He was through with trying to make them happy. This was his life and he wanted to actually live it not just try to survive. He had asked Zant to keep hidden unless his life was threatened, but he always carried the serpent with him now. It was a sort of safety measure.

The shouting had progressed to a point were Petunia had actually shown up and pushed Harry out the door telling him to not come back until nightfall. As the raven walked along the streets of Little Whinging his thoughts returned to Hyrule and Zant.

He still couldn't remember how he had met the little serpent or how he could possibly know his name. It didn't really matter though. He trusted the little Twili. His memories of his life in Hyrule seemed to be coming back in bits and pieces as the days went by.

At least school was starting again soon. Harry had decided he was going to learn as much as he possibly could. He didn't quite know why he felt the need to do so but there had to be a reason. He had decided he just wouldn't show the Dursleys his grades.

**_"_****_They are strange even for two-legs," _**the serpent stated after a while.

Harry smiled. **_"That they are my friend," _**he chuckled. He dived down behind a garbage bin as he noticed Dudley's gang turn a corner. He didn't feel like dealing with them today. The raven and serpent continued their conversation as Harry made his way back to Privet Drive.

"Shhh, Erenigh don't cry they'll find us."

Harry turned as he heard the voice of a young girl. He backed a few steps and looked down an alleyway. He could see a glimpse of red.

**_"_****_There are small two-legs down there," _**Zant poked his head out and flicked his tongue.

The raven hummed as he started walking down the alley. There were two children hiding in the shadows down the path. A girl with cherry-red hair was facing a boy with black hair and big amber eyes. The boy had an ugly black eye. Harry tilled his head "What happened to you?" he asked.

The girl turned around frightened. She narrowed her eyes at the raven and bit her lip nervously. "What do you want?" she asked her tone defensive.

Harry backed off a little. He smiled reassuringly and said, "I was just wondering if you guys were O.K. Your friend is hurt."

"He's my brother," she muttered like it was a common occurrence for people to get that wrong.

"I apologise," Harry said. He kneeled down and reached out. "Who hurt you?" he asked the boy.

"That's none of your business…" the redhead started saying but her brother interrupted her. "I can speak for myself Emelle," he told her then he turned to the older kid. "Dursley and his gang attacked us," he said his eyes full of fire.

Harry sighed. He had made it near impossible for Dudley's gang to catch him after his – return? From Hyrule – but that didn't stop the bullies from going after others it seemed. That they felt the need to beat-up on little kids was beyond him. He looked into the amber eyes. "I apologise for my cousin's behaviour," he said, "but he's been more or less raised to act that way."

The siblings' eyes narrowed at the information. This was Dursley's cousin. They had heard stories, rumours going around the neighbourhood. They studied the older kid in front off them taking in his overly large clothes and shabby appearance. He didn't look the type to be up to criminal stuff, really. Their eyes met for a brief moment before they turned back to him. "It's O.K. it isn't like it's your fault he does things like that," the girl, Emelle, said while her brother nodded slowly.

Harry chuckled. "Thank heavens for that," he said and then his brows furrowed. "Can I help you guys get home?" he asked the kids.

Emelle looked at him for a moment. Her assessment that he was a good guy wavered a little. They weren't supposed to talk to strangers after all. She looked over at her brother. He couldn't walk not with that foot. She looked back at the shabby raven and nodded. "O.K." she said as she helped her brother up. She hoped that the kid wasn't dangerous.

The black-haired boy limped up to the raven. Harry tilted his head and held a hand out. "Come here," he said quickly pulling the kid up on his back.

…

There had been one thing besides Zant that had the raven convinced that his stay in Hyrule had actually happened and that was his improved physique. His health was much better now and he was taller too. He never would have been able to do something like this otherwise. Not with how scrawny and weak he had been.

…

Emelle looked at her brother worriedly for a moment but everything seemed alright so she started walking down the alley, turning left.

Harry smiled softly as he followed her making sure not to lose sight of the girl. There was a sharp intake of breath next to his ear. "What's wrong?" he asked tilting his head slightly so he could see the boy on his back in his peripheral vision.

"You have a…a snake a…around you…your neck," the boy stuttered.

Harry nodded calmly. "That I do," he said hoping that the boy wouldn't panic. "Zant won't hurt you he's my friend." he shifted his grip on the boy slightly. "So you name is Erenigh right?" he wondered.

"Y…yes it is," the kid seemed shaken still. Not that Harry could blame him. It wasn't every day you encountered someone with a live snake around their neck.

They had been walking down a street that was a block or so away from Privet Drive for a while when Emelle stopped in front off a house. Just like the houses on Privet Drive the buildings on this street all looked the same. Harry shuddered it was nasty really. He promised himself that one day he'd have a house with character and not something like this. He looked closer at this particular house and noticed that while the house looked like any other on the street the garden was beautiful. It was nothing like back at the Dursleys. The flowerbeds were overflowing with colourful flowers – red, yellow, orange, dark purple. The raven smiled. He was convinced that the kids had a hand in the design and flower choice of this garden. It was full of life and definitely was not something that the neighbours approved of he was sure.

As they walked up the driveway to the door, it opened up to reveal a man in his late twenties early thirties. His hair was red and his eyes looked like honey. _'He has to be their dad,'_ Harry thought as he let Erenigh down slowly careful not to hurt the boy's ankle.

"What on earth has happened to you," the man exclaimed as he saw his son's face. He was kneeling next to the child just seconds later touching the bruise carefully.

"It was Dursley again, dad," Emelle said softly.

The man turned to her and reached out. She ran forward and threw herself at him. "Humph," he said as she collided with his chest. The man held his children close for quite some time before looking up at the boy who had accompanied his children. He raised an eyebrow at the scruffy look the older boy had and while he, like his children, noticed the clothes. He also noticed the burns that seemed to litter the boy's hands and travel up his arms. "Thank you for helping my little angels back…" he said.

"Harry," the raven said.

"Harry," the man said as he ran a hand through his son's hair, messing it up royally.

"It was nothing. I just gave this little guy a piggyback ride," Harry smiled at the boy. He notice that now out in the sun Erenigh's hair was actually a dark red colour and not black as he'd first thought. It was quite mesmerizing. "It's the least thing I could do after my cousin hurt him," he said. The raven had no wish for any of them to be swayed by his so called family's lies. He knew of the rumours they spread about him and he hoped that by being honest whist these people maybe they would be able to see him instead of the delinquent most others saw.

The man paused for a moment. _'He lives with that bully,' _he thought. He wondered just how the boy was treated in that home really considering the way he looked. He stood up, letting go off his kids. He smiled down at Emelle who smiled back at him before running off into the house. Erenigh held on to his father as he tried to keep weight off his right ankle.

"Would you like something to drink?" the man asked Harry. "My name is Nathaniel by the way," he said.

Harry closed his eyes. The sun was warm and his Aunt had told him he was not welcome back until nightfall. "Something to drink would be nice, thank you," he answered.

He followed Nathaniel, who had lifted his son up, into the house. The inside reflected the garden rather well. It wasn't chaos per say. It was clean – but the colour schemes were bright and sunny. Emelle came running down the stairs with a sketch book and some colour pens in her arms.

"No running around in the house Emelle," Nathaniel told her.

"Yes, dad!" his daughter called back as she disappeared out the back door.

Nathaniel sighed. He said something to his son that Harry couldn't hear and the reply was just as quiet. The redhead turned to him and pointed into a room. "There's the living room. You can take a seat. I'll be back as soon as I've checked Erenigh over," he said.

Harry watched them disappear at the top off the stairs before entering the room he'd been pointed to. He looked around feeling really out off place. There was so much love and caring in this family. Not something he was used to even with the memories he had of Link. There had been no grown-ups in Kokiri Forest. To see a father care so much for his children was strange. But then again he wasn't Petunia and Vernon's child so maybe that was it. Though Nathaniel didn't seem like the type to spoil his children – well, at least not like his Aunt and Uncle did to Dudley.

Harry noticed some photographs hanging on the wall and standing on the mantelpiece of the fireplace in the room. He walked closer smiling at what he saw. He did notice something which was odd, though. The pictures featured father, daughter and son but no mother. The raven tilted his head there was no sign of any woman in the pictures but one that had to be the kids' grandmother.

"She isn't living with us."

The raven turned around confusion flickering through his eyes. Nathaniel had entered the room with a tray of refreshments. He placed it on the sofa table before walking up to Harry touching one of the earlier photos. "Five years ago their mother dumped the kids on me and disappeared. I didn't even know I was a father," he said. Emelle entered the room and sneaked a cookie making her father chuckle. "I don't regret raising them or having them but sometimes I wonder why she did it…"

Harry nodded in understanding as Nathaniel spoke. He was surprised that the man was telling him this. They had only just met after all, but he had nothing against listening if his host needed an ear.

…

They spoke for several minutes about none consequential stuff and Nathaniel spent that time observing the raven. He noticed how the boy would flinch ever so slightly when he moved his hands without warning. He noticed that the boy didn't just have burns but bruises as well. There was one in particular that worried him. The bruise covered the boy's upper arm and Nathaniel could tell that it was a handprint. He was trying to decide how to breach the subject with the kid. Most abuse victims defended their attacker after all – children more so than others.

He smiled at his daughter as she came back into the room and proceeded to drag Harry with her so they could play. He made his way into the kitchen deftly preparing supper as he pondered how to talk to the boy.

…

Like at any other time in the Winters' household supper was not a quiet affair. Emelle and Erenigh were full of energy and they kept talking throughout the entire meal. Nathaniel was quite impressed with young Harry when the boy seemed to have no problems keeping up with the half sentences and unfinished thoughts his children sprouted.

It did, however, not keep him from noticing the all too small meal the boy ate. No growing child should eat like that.

Harry offered to help with the dishes afterwards and Nathaniel rather than insist he didn't need to help allowed the boy to go ahead. He still wasn't quite certain how to approach this and he definitely did not want to scare the boy off. His children really seemed to like the older boy. Just as he pretty much decided to wait with the entire thing Harry turned around.

Green eyes were glowing faintly and Nathaniel doubted it was a reflection from the lamp. "You could just ask you know," the raven said. "It is getting kind of weird having you stare at me like that."

Nathaniel's eyes widened slightly and he could feel his cheeks burn. _'Oh, great work Nathaniel you haven't weirded the poor kid out at all today, have you?' _he thought. Then he breathed in. Oh, he might as well go ahead. "The bruise on your arm," he said meeting blazing green eyes. "How did you get it?"

Harry shrugged. Now, if someone had asked him that a few weeks ago he would have avoided the question for fear of what his Uncle might do to him. But after his stay in Hyrule he no longer cared what Vernon might do. "A few days ago Uncle Vernon was in a really bad mood. I was in his way so he grabbed me and threw me into my cupboard," he said his voice not quite emotionless but close enough to raise warning flags with his audience.

"And the burns?" Nathaniel asked.

"Nettles," Harry said. "Aunt Petunia wants her garden to be prefect. The nettles are in the way."

The redhead went silent. He thought about what the boy had told him. It angered him greatly to hear that someone would treat a child like that. The boy was being starved and abused. He looked at the raven. "There are ways to get you out off that house Harry," he said hoping that the boy would be willing to try.

Instead he received a snort. "Like people haven't tried that before. No one has ever managed to help me and they all tend to go missing after they try," Harry said.

Emelle entered the kitchen and dragged the raven with her upstairs leaving her father to his thoughts. If people went missing he couldn't really risk it … but he could offer the boy a sanctuary.

…

The raven stayed with the Winters family for several more hours playing with the twins.

Over the coming weeks Harry became a common feature in the Winters' household.

Once the term started he went there almost everyday after school and spend time with the kids. They were a way for him to handle the loss he felt by being back in England. Playing with Emelle and Erenigh even though they were so much younger than him made it easier not to drown in the despair he felt because Link was gone.

* * *

><p>In September the Winters decided to go camping. The week before the trip Nathaniel showed up at the Dursleys door.<p>

Harry had no clue what the redhead told Vernon but whatever it was it worked wonders and he was currently sitting next to Nathaniel in the front seat of the car. In the back seat Erenigh and Emelle were playing word games. He had asked Nathaniel why the man was helping him. Because Harry wasn't stupid he knew that at least part of the reason why – Nathaniel felt sorry for him.

"They have never taken to someone else the way they have to you," Nathaniel had told him. "My kids really like you, you know. And that matters to me." He had known he couldn't fool the boy, so he hadn't tried. The reason he'd given was both valid and true.

It had led to where they were now setting up a tent. The woods around them smelled fresh. Harry felt better than he had in months. The sound of the forest was calming even though it sounded nothing like Kokiri Forest.

Even Erenigh and Emelle's laughter and shrieks of joy added to the calm of the atmosphere. It was familiar and the familiarity felt good.

That night after supper they were sitting around the fire. Harry closed his eyes. The flames reminded him of Dodongo Caverns. Green eyes opened slowly. He smiled before leaning forward.

This was a story he could tell them.

"There is a forest," he began and the Winters quieted down. "A forest were the children are accompanied by fairies. A forest protected by a spiritual guardian The Great Deku Tree..."

…

Nathaniel was watching Harry after the twins had fallen asleep. "It was a true story, was it not? Those things they happened no matter how insane it sounds. It was true," he inquired.

Harry smirked at him. "Yes," he said. "It is true…" he looked out between the trees. It was dark. The shadows moved with the flames of the fire. "I don't know how I ended up there. I don't know how I made it back, and I have no clue how long I was there. My memory of that place is coming back as time goes."

Harry went to bed not long after leaving Nathaniel to ponder the rather strange mystery he'd been handed.

* * *

><p>The next day Harry, Erenigh and Emelle disappeared amongst the trees. They were going on an adventure.<p>

…

"Come on Harry you're slow," Emelle shouted before she ran off.

The raven laughed, her enthusiasm was wonderful. He followed the cherry-red-haired girl in between the trees. "O.K. Emelle honey slow down," he called out. He could hear her laughing but couldn't pinpoint where it came from.

Then the laughing stopped and a scream sounded through the leaves. "EMELLE!" Harry shouted. He sped up avoiding branches as he ran. "Emelle where are you?"

"Harry," the girl's voice was faint.

"Emelle!"

Harry stopped himself. He was standing by a cliff. There was an at least twenty feet drop straight down. He swallowed. _'That would have hurt,' _he thought before looking around trying to locate red amongst the green and brown of the forest.

His breath caught in his throat, and he took off running along the edge of the cliff. Emelle was hanging from a root her body dangling dangerously over the ground twenty feet down.

Harry skidded to a halt right next to where the girl must have slipped. He leaned over the edge and reached out for her.

It was too far. He couldn't reach her.

The raven moved closer to the edge, over balanced and fell.

He grabbed Emelle.

The ground was rushing towards them. He closed his eyes and twisted in the air ensuring that he'd take the blunt of the fall.

A flash of light.

…

Nathaniel was walking amongst the trees. He smiled at Erenigh, who was building a small fort out off branches. Wondering where his little spitfire had disappeared of too, the redhead walked up to his son. "Have you seen…" he didn't get further as a scream tore through the trees.

Nathaniel took off running. He reached the cliff just as Harry tumbled over the edge a few feet to his left. His heart missed a beat and he stopped breathing as he saw his daughter falling to the ground below together with the raven. He wanted to scream but no sound came out.

And then…

Light filled the air around the two children.

When Nathaniel could see once more his daughter and the young raven lay together on the ground. His eyes searched for a safe way down there and he picked Erenigh up as he made his way through the trees.

"Emelle!" he shouted as he dropped his son down.

The little cherry-haired girl moved slowly. She was still frightened even though it hadn't hurt. It should have hurt but Harry had made the light and then … She heard her father call her name once more and she sat up. Next to her Harry was laying his chest moved as he breathed but his eyes were closed. She looked up at her distressed dad. "Daddy," she said weakly before reaching out for him. Warm arms enveloped her offering comfort.

Erenigh, who didn't really know what had happened, was looking at Harry. The raven wasn't moving. "Harry," the boy whispered as he sank down on his knees next to the older boy. A hand reached out to shake an unmoving shoulder. "Harry." There was no response. Erenigh's eyes were tearing up. He had found a kitten that summer and it had closed its eyes and never opened them again. His father had told them about death that day. _'What if Harry never wakes up?' _the boy thought.

Nathaniel, who had by now ensured himself that his daughter was just fine – she didn't have a scratch even – looked up at his son and saw the tears running down the boy's face. He let go off Emelle and moved closer to the unconscious raven on the ground. Reaching out, he found the boy's pulse with ease. He then proceeded to check for injuries but just like with Emelle there were none to be found. "He's fine Erenigh. He's just sleeping," he reassured his son.

Erenigh hiccupped in response and buried his face in the raven's shirt.

"It's like in the story," Emelle said then.

Nathaniel turned to his daughter. "The story?" he asked.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, when Link was attacked by those Lizard thingies and Shadow jumped in between to take the hit and there was light and Shadow was fine but unconscious so Link thought he was dead. Shadow wasn't breathing though and Harry is," she said like it all made perfect sense. "Harry is Shadow and he saved me just like he did with Link."

Nathaniel was staring at his daughter. Sure he had come to the conclusion after watching Harry telling that story the day before that it had to be true. What baffled him was that his six-year-old daughter figured it out and thinks it's just normal. Nathaniel kept mumbling under his breath about insane little girls and reckless boys as he carried Harry back to their camp. He ordered his children to stay where he could see them before placing the raven down on his sleeping bag.

…

That event together with Harry's continued appearance over the next year had the Winters twins calling him big brother. It was strange for the raven since it brought with it a rather overprotective father who tended to extend that protectiveness to the raven as well.

Over the course of that year Harry came to trust Nathaniel like he did no other grown-up. When something happened it was Nathaniel he went to for advice. When he was hurt it was Nathaniel who helped him tend to the wound. The raven took quite well to being a big brother. He was in charge of homework for example and it was always done before anything else was allowed.

Harry's memories were returning as well the strange thing was that they kept coming in dreams. Though, there were times when he had visions during the day as well. Not that it happened often. But his and Link's first meeting with Ruto had occurred at such a time. A new girl had joined his class and she was acting so much like the Zoran Princess that Harry kept having flashbacks whenever he was near her. The adventures he and Link had throughout Hyrule was a welcome change from the monotone existence he had with the Dursleys.

In February Harry discovered one of the best things about his dreams and flashbacks. He had, in the dreams, reached the Sheikah village Atallieru. So now he was learning or relearning his lessons with the Sheikah. The exercises they had taught him back there he now used to train his body once more. He calmed and focusing became easier. He also became extraordinary good at avoiding the Dumb-bunch with were the twins name for Dudley and his gang.

…

It was April or so when he remembered a conversation he had with Galena about magic. He Harry James Potter had magic with explained a lot of weird things that had been going on recently. Because as his focus had sharpened Harry would at times find himself wishing for things and they would simply happen or appear. It was for example an easy way to do the gardening – as long as no one saw him of course. That was something Nathaniel and he had decided the moment it had started happening with some frequency and Harry had figured out he was the cause of it.

The raven had also started teaching Emelle and Erenigh Hylian – because really how many persons on Earth could speak Hylian. It could always come in handy and the kids were still so young that learning a new language was easy for them.

Life was good as far as Harry was concerned.


	18. Lost but Not Forgotten

**Lost but Not Forgotten**

.

Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda it belongs to Nintendo.

* * *

><p>Harry had vanished.<p>

The raven wasn't here anymore.

Link sat on his bed in their tree stump and looked at one of the carvings on the wall.

Harry had made it just the day before they had left on their grand quest. Now, however, Link wished that they had never gone. That the Great Deku Tree hadn't called for him.

That he had never met the Gorons, or the Zoras, or that blasted princess who took away his friend.

Harry.

His absence had left a large hole in Link's chest, and the blond didn't know what to do.

Navi was gone as well, and Saria, who could remember everything just as well as him, was spending more and more time tending to the Forest Temple.

The only thing Link had left of his friend was the raven's sai and violin. They had been with him as he awoke in the Temple of Time – a child once more.

Navi had left, and Link had travelled up to the castle in order to speak with Zelda. She had handed him the Ocarina of Time so it could be kept safe from Ganondorf clutches.

Link was bored and it felt strange to be a kid once more. "I can't just sit here!" he exclaimed. "Didn't Harry say something about his Master Salazar trying to find a way over to England?" He stared at the wall for a moment. At least trying to find the man would give him something to do. He couldn't just sit here. As he pulled his boots on he realised that he had no idea where to look for Salazar. Maybe it would be smart to travel by horse rather than on foot.

"Wonder if Malon will let me take Epona?"

He pulled the other boot on. "Well I won't find that out unless I ask her."

…

He walked through Kokiri Forest, watching his friends play in the water.

"Come on Link join us," one of the girls called.

The blond looked over. He hadn't joined them in a game since he'd realised that Harry was gone. He just didn't feel like it.

"Give it up, he doesn't wanna … he's such a bore," Fado told the girl.

Link rolled his eyes. No one but Saria could actually remember Harry and she wasn't here. He walked on passing the guard by the forest exit. He walked out on Hyrule Field. The sky was clear blue. It was a beautiful day, but it was lost on the blond. He wasn't watching the sky or the grass clad hills. Too lost in thoughts, he paid no attention to the world around him.

Soon the high fences of the Lon Lon Ranch were before him. Link shook himself out off his stupor. It wouldn't do to daydream around here. He walked into the ranch.

The cuccos ran off as he strode between the buildings. He could hear Malon singing in the distance. She was probably out in the paddock with the horses like usual.

Link could recall the last time he'd been here. Harry had been with him … the raven had left in a hurry because he didn't want to hurt anyone. Harry had been jealous of Malon – or well he'd been angry at least.

Link chuckled.

He took his ocarina out as he walked into the paddock. Raising the instrument to his mouth he played Epona's Song and little Epona came running over. He ran his hand through her mane.

"Hey girl do you remember me?" he asked.

Epona snorted.

"Yeah I thought so. Do you want to come with me girl? I'm going to be travelling for a while," Link rubbed her muzzle. She snorted again. "Thank you girl."

He walked up to Malon.

"Hello Malon," he said.

"Oh, hey fairy boy. Did you go up to the castle to see the princess?" Malon said.

Link sighed. _'Haven't we had this conversation already?' _he thought resigned. He repeated the story he'd told about the castle and its guards.

…

Hours later he had finally managed to convince the girl that he'd take good care of Epona. It was obvious that the horse wanted to come with him. He couldn't understand why she was being so stubborn. Then again she didn't know just how much of a history he and Epona had.

* * *

><p>Days later Link was riding through the woods far south of the Lost Woods. Epona was restless and he had this strange feeling that he was not alone. It was dark in there, beneath the trees. He had never been afraid of the forest but…<p>

There had been something moving behind him. He was certain of it.

There was a glowing in the distance. Was that fairies.

It was.

The fairies moved forward and scared Epona.

"Aaargg."

Link was thrown off and landed on the ground. His head was pounding. In the distance he could hear a voice.

"You two fairies did great! I wonder if he has anything good on him… huh? This guy… well that shouldn't be a problem."

Someone was walking up to him. Link could hear the footsteps. Then he could feel hands going through his pockets. He tried to move but his head hurt too much.

"Ooh, ooh! What a pretty ocarina… Hey Skull Kid, lemme touch it! I wanna see!"

The ocarina was blown followed by a strange laughter. Link tried to get up again.

"You can't, Tael! What would we do if you dropped it and broke it? No way! You can't touch it!"

"…Aw, but sis… W…Why can't I try it out, too?"

Link turned his aching head. The fairies were arguing and that Skull Kid was holding his ocarina. He got up slowly. As he took a step forward the fairies noticed that he was up. They tinkled and alerted the Skull Kid who turned around before jumping and landing on Epona. Link swiftly threw himself after the kid but he only managed to get a hold of a leg as Epona started running. The blond was dragged along through the forest not knowing where he ended up when he was finally forced to let go. His entire side was sore. He had shallow cuts down both his arms and legs.

He could see Epona disappearing in the distance. "Shit," he cursed "I have to catch up to them."

He ran in the direction he'd seen them disappear in.

And ran

And ran … but he didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Not that he was all that surprised. Epona was a really fast horse after all.

He wasn't watching where he went as he suddenly stepped out into nothing.

He was falling.

.

.

Thump!

He landed on something soft. Looking down he realised that it was a flower, a big pink flower with a black centre.

Then there was a blinding light. Link had to cover his eyes to keep them from hurting.

"What's with that stupid horse of yours?! It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it…"

Link squinted.

On the other side of a pond suspended in mid-air sat a Skull Kid. He had a really strange mask on though. It was heart-shaped with big thorns sticking out off it and the eyes were big and staring with green irises and orange sclera. On either side of him hovered a fairy. One was bright yellow and the other was a dark purple.

Link had never seen a fairy like that before. It was strange.

"There is no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favour and got rid off it …" the Skull Kid said before snickering.

Link's brows furrowed and his nostrils flared.

"Aww, boo-hoo. Why the sad face?" the kid taunted him.

_'__Sad,'_ the blond thought. _'This isn't sad; this is pissed off you little…'_

"I just thought I'd have some fun with you…"

Link wasn't too sure he liked the sound of that.

Then the mask sent out some weird reddish and yellow light and everything went dark. He turned his head from side to side but there was nothing there. Or…

A mad scrub appeared and then another one.

And another one…

Link backed away.

Then he started running but there was nowhere to run to.

They were closing in on him … and then everything went black once more.

When he opened his eyes he was back on the pink flower. _'That's strange how come the flower seems closer than it was…'_ He looked down into the water. There reflecting back at him was a Deku scrub. He took a step back in shock.

"What happened to me why…" he was frantic.

"Hee, hee!" the Skull Kid laughed. "Now that's a good look for you!"

Link looked up at the kid. He was angry.

But the Skull Kid was floating backwards saying something about him staying here forever.

_'__Not a chance,'_ Link thought and jumped across the water. The yellow fairy stopped him though. She bumped into him. In this form there was little he could do to stop her. _'Bloody annoying fairy,'_ he thought.

"SIS!" the purple fairy called before the tunnel the Skull Kid had entered closed.

She stopped bumping and flew over to the closed-door. "Whoa! Whoa! Skull Kid, wait for me! I'm still here!" she screamed. "Tael, you can't leave without me!" The fairy bumped against the wood a few times before faltering depressed. She didn't stay sad for long. No, she had soon turned to the Link looking Deku scrub. "You!" she flew up to him. "If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother!"

Link wanted to roll his eyes. Like that was his fault. He would have been happier if she hadn't been stopping him too.

"Well don't just sit there, Deku boy! Do something!" the fairy commanded.

Link groaned or tried to at least before he gave her a pointed look.

"…Why are you looking at me like that? What, is there something stuck on my face? Will you stop staring and just open the door for me?!" she was starting to sound irritated.

Link on the other hand was getting annoyed. He hadn't exactly cried when Navi had flown off and this fairy was definitely more annoying than she'd ever been.

"Please! C'mon, a helpless little girl is asking you…"

Link wanted to strangle her but his hands weren't really made for something that delicate.

"So hurry up!"

_'__O.K O.K. I'll open the damn door if it'll shut you up.'_ he walked up to the door and pushed.

They went through a wooden tunnel only to end up in a…

"Hey wait for me! Don't leave me behind!" the yellow fairy seemed frantic…and maybe a little scared. "So, um… That stuff back there… I…um…apologize, so… So take me with you!"

Link stared at her. _'Why by Din would I want to take you with me? I mean you…_' he closed his eyes for a moment. _'What would Harry do?' _he considered it for a moment. _'Harry would take her with him and get all the information out off her he could…and then he'd turn her into confetti.' _The blond Deku nodded that sounded like a good idea. "Sure why not," he answered the fairy.

"You wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right?" the fairy asked almost before he had finished speaking. "Well, I just so happen to have an idea of where he might be going."

This was going to be easier than he first thought. She would tell him without even considering the consequences, great.

"My name is Tatl by the way. So, uh, it's nice to meet you or whatever," the fairy told him before disappearing just like Navi used too.

Link looked around. The door he needed to reach was across the room but he had no idea how to get over there. He studied his surroundings for a moment. There were several of those pink flowers around. Come to think of it. Dekus could disappear down into flowers right? He walked up to one of the flowers and out on the petals. He bounced on the centre a couple of times before spinning.

Pop!

He flew up in the air suddenly holding flowers in his hands their petals were spinning. He moved forward and just about managed to land on the platform before the flowers lost their petals. Opening the door, he stepped into an area with no floor. There were more flowers spread out on platforms this time. He realised that he'd have to go from platform to platform in order to get to the next room.

This place was almost as confusing as one of those bloody temples.

Spin…pop!

Spin…pop!

He got a few Deku nuts in a chest.

Spin…pop!

Spin…pop!

_'__Hmm wonder if I can drop the Deku nuts while in the air.'_

Spin…pop…crash!

Apparently he could drop Deku nuts.

He kept walking. Through a dark tunnel he went and as it brightened he realised that it was one of those twisted corridors that had existed in the Forest Temple. _'Urgh I hate these,'_ he thought.

The tunnel led him into a brightly lit building of some sort. There was a waterwheel which spun as the water passed it. The floor was covered in moss and so was the wheel. Link walked forward slowly. Next to the wheel there was a ramp.

It took him up to a sizable room with big blue markings covering one wall. In the middle of the room a pole was spinning. Link guessed that it was driven by the wheel downstairs. There was a painted wooden door opposite of the blue marked wall. The blond walked up towards it.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Link spun around. A man stood by the ramp he had just walked up. _'How did he get there?'_ the blond wondered. The man carried a backpack its outside was filled with masks. He seemed to be constantly smiling and his eyes were narrowed so tightly they seemed to be closed.

Tatl hid behind Link's overly large floppy hat as the Deku boy walked down to the strange man.

"I own the Happy Mask Shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks… During my travels a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods. So here I am at a loss… And now I've found you," the mask salesman said.

Link looked at him. What was that supposed to mean?

"Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you…"

_'__And that's not rude how? I wish Harry was here,'_ he sighed.

"…For I know of a way to return you to your former self."

_'__Well at least that would be useful,'_ the blond thought. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a Deku.

"If you can get back the precious item that was stolen from you, I will return you to normal. In exchange… All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me."

"Great how do I do that then?" Link wasn't too keen on another insane quest really.

"What? Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task."

_'__Yeah right! I'll have you know that I didn't particularly enjoy myself last time you know!'_

"Except…The one thing is… I'm a very busy fellow… and I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up…"

Link groaned a time limit that's just lovely.

"But yes…You'll be fine. I see you are young and have tremendous courage. I'm sure you'll find it right away. Well then, I am counting on you…"

_'__Finally,'_ Link sighed. _'I thought he would never shut up. Really it's not like I have much choice. Not unless I'd like to spend the rest of my life as a Deku.' _He walked out off the room. Outside was a town square. There were carpenters out there building a tower and a dog was running around barking.

Tatl showed up and instructed him to go see the Great Fairy. Link sighed. _'Well I guess that's the best idea we have so far,'_ he thought.

* * *

><p>The Great Fairy had been in pieces. One piece had been missing so the first thing Link had to do was find it.<p>

Finally finding the stray fairy, he headed back to the fountain.

The Great Fairy informed him that the man living in the observatory outside of town might know where to find the Skull Kid. Link whimpered. This was going to turn into some sort of insane clue hunt wasn't it? He hated clue hunts.

_'__Observatory… How do I get there?'_ Through on of the gates were out. The guards stopped him if he tried. Walking around town he couldn't seem to find any way of getting out or any other way of finding what he was looking for.

Eventually he sat down and looked around. The few grown-ups he'd asked for help all seemed to busy to talk to him. But there was a kid fooling around maybe he knew…

…Apparently a group named the Bombers had their hideout by the observatory and he would most likely have to talk to this Jim fellow to get there.

Jim was an annoying little brat but he wasn't too difficult to deal with.

…

A popped balloon and a game of hide and seek later, Link had the code to the Bombers secret hideout.

Now, one thing Link noticed really fast was that Deku scrubs don't like water… or gigantic skulltulas dropping down from the ceiling. And he was really wondering where they had obtained the big purple balloons with the Majora's Mask on them.

At least the Deku could blow bubbles or spit or whatever it was.

The stairs in the observatory changed colours as Link went higher from jade to yellow to red and the railing was blue fading to purple. Link was wondering if the man up there was colour-blind.

"Well, well… a strange-looking child has joined me today… Are you a new friend of the Bombers gang?"

"Yeah well, not quite. They didn't want to be my friends. Something about me not being human, sir," Link informed the man.

"…Hmmm. Your manners seem much better than those of your mischievous friend from the other day."

"Oh, how come sir?"

"Hrnf, hrnf, hrnf! That ill-mannered troublemaker from the other day said he'd break my instruments... He said he'd steal my moon's tear… There was no stopping him. Even now! Just watch him! He's probably causing trouble around the clock tower. Do you want to take a look?"

"Yes please, sir," Link responded. The old man stepped aside and Link the Deku could walk up to the telescope and look through it.

The Skull Kid sat atop the Clock Tower. He watched as a moon's tear fell from the sky before doing a rude gesture almost like he knew Link was watching. The blond stepped back from the telescope.

"Well did you find that troublemaker? And that loud noise… What was that?" the old man asked but before Link could answer he continued. "Perhaps another moon's tear has fallen nearby… Go through that door and take a look outside. I wonder how he got up on top of the Clock Tower. The only way up there is through the clock door, and that opens only on the eve of the carnival."

Link walked off the podium once the man had stopped speaking. _'So the door I most likely have to go through only opens on the eve of the carnival that the grown-ups are preparing for,'_ he thought as he walked outside. _'That means I'm going to have to do a lot of waiting. With no real way to pass the time,_' he sighed.

Once he had traded the moon's tear for a land title-deed there really wasn't all that much he could do but wait.

He waked around town trying to pass time. In the Mayor's office there was an argument going on between the Guards and the Carnival Committee about whether they should or shouldn't evacuate. It gave Link a headache listening to them.

The Inn was full but a nice old lady let Link have a quick nap in her room while she read him a story. He drifted off to the sound of her voice.

…

The next morning was hectic in many ways not that Link joined in. People were running back and forth packing last-minute things and the like. Most people were leaving and the blond couldn't blame them. Even the sky was strange that morning instead of blue, like usual, it was green.

The earth was rumbling and the moon was just getting closer. Link sat on the ledge of the Clock Tower just before the door and dangled his little feet over the edge.

Once the clock struck midnight the fireworks started and the door opened. Link took a deep breath before heading up the stairs.

On top off the Clock Tower the Skull Kid sat in mid-air. He was juggling the ocarina. The imp hit Tael as the fairy tried to talk to his sister. There was something really weird with that mask Link realised as he watched the kid. It was like the mask had completely taken over.

Magic floated through the air and the moon's decent increased in speed.

Link shot the Skull Kid with a snot bubble. The imp dropped his ocarina and the blond rushed forward. He grabbed the instrument just as Tatl screamed "Somebody! Anybody! Goddess of Time help us please! We need more time!"

Link pulled out the ocarina only to realise that it was a set of pipes instead. Not too concerned with that for now he quickly played the Song of Time.

Time went backwards.

.

Until he stood there on the morning of the first day…


	19. Letters of Magic

**Letters of Magic**

Authors note: If something isn't mentioned specifically there is a good chance that it happened according to canon.

* * *

><p><em>'<em>_It was so worth it,' _Harry thought as he rubbed his bruised arm. The Dursleys had brought him along with them to the Zoo that day for Dudley's birthday. Harry had fun looking at the animals. He'd rather be at the Winters' of course but it was O.K. – much better than Mrs Figgs' place at any rate. The reptile house had been fun – especially after he'd released a boa constrictor on Dudley. Everyone had been so panicked. The boa had been happy though. It would be the first and last time he ever got to come along for Dudley's birthday trip.

**_ "_****_I should bite them for hurting you Master," _**the raven's own serpent hissed angrily. How dare someone harm his master!

**_"_****_Calm down Zant. You would kill them with your bite and they haven't done anything to deserve that. Well, it would create more problems than it would solve at least," _**Harry hissed amused. It was nice to know that someone cared about him.

While Vernon had pretty much told him he would not get out off the cupboard until summer – well, it didn't go quite as the large man planed. Harry would after all spend most of his free time, especially after school, with the Winters. The raven would normally stay for supper at their house since Nathaniel simply hated the fact that he wasn't fed properly. The man was even teaching Harry how to cook himself. It meant that the raven didn't get back to Privet Drive until late most days. So by the time he got back home it was time to go to bed.

Eventually the summer holidays started, however, and Harry more or less got stuck at the Dursleys'. He missed the Winters, but he was rather busy doing chores and avoiding Dudley's gang. Not that he was scared of them since he now had several months' worth of Sheikah training he could use if need arose.

The Dursleys had told him he would be going to Stonewall High, but Harry somehow doubted it. He didn't quite know why – but still.

…

One morning when Harry entered the kitchen a horrid smell infiltrated his nostrils. He looked around noticing a large metal tub filled with what looked to be dirty rags swimming in grey water. He studied the guck for a moment before deciding that he'd rather not know what it was. He sat down by the table thinking about the dream he had that night. He and Annun had been riding; they were trying to catch up to someone who would be able to teach him magic. He was exited he really wanted to learn how to actually control the magic he had.

Dudley and Vernon walked in to the kitchen. Their noses were wrinkled because of the horrid smell. Dudley slammed his Smeltings stick on the table. He'd been carrying the thing around everywhere since he got it the day before. Father and son sat down. They had just started on breakfast when a click could be heard from the letter-box; it was followed by the sound of letters flopping down on the doormat in the hall.

"Get the post, Dudley," Vernon told his son which was highly unusual.

"Make Harry get it," the blond said before he started stuffing his face with bacon.

"Get the post, Harry."

Harry sighed and stood up. There was no point in arguing with the man. On the doormat lay three things: a postcard from Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and… a letter for him. Harry stared at it for a moment. _'Who would write to me?'_ he wondered. Then he noticed the address:

_Mr H. Potter_

_The Cupboard under the Stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

_'__That's just creepy,'_ Harry thought as he studied the letter. The envelope was strange almost like parchment and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp on it. He turned the envelope around. There was a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

"Hurry up, boy!" Vernon shouted from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter-bombs?" he chuckled at his own joke.

Harry rolled his eyes and tucked his letter into his waistband. He'd take a closer look later when he was alone. He walked back into the kitchen handing the bill and postcard over to his Uncle, sat down and started eating his breakfast, tuning out whatever conversation going on around him.

Later that day a lone raven-haired boy could be seen walking down Privet Drive. He turned and crossed over a lawn as he headed over to the Winters.

"Good morning Nathaniel!" he called as he walked up the driveway.

The redhead, who was currently watering the flowerbeds, turned around. "Good morning Harry," he called as he identified the raven. From inside the house a shout could be heard followed by giggling. Then a small cherry-red blur came running outside.

Emelle squealed as she got hit by the spray of water from the hose her father was holding and Harry laughed. "Harry," she cried in delight as she saw him.

"Oh, no, you don't," the raven said as she made her way over dipping wet. When the girl pouted he said, "I've got something I don't what to get wet with me," he explained.

"You can put it inside," Nathaniel told him.

"I can do it." Erenigh said.

Harry turned towards the boy who had suddenly appeared beside him. He looked down and smiled. "Sure," he took the letter out and gave it to Erenigh who darted inside. A gasp passed through Harry's lips as the water spray from the hose was directed at him. He'd been watching Erenigh and hadn't noticed Nathaniel move. Green eyes narrowed at the redhead and he shook excessive water off his body. "You will pay for that," he hissed at the man before he quickly moved forward, grabbed the hose and angled it up at the man's face. Nathaniel spluttered and yanked the hose out off the raven's hand. He turned the spray to his giggling daughter. "Making fun of your old man are you? Your little imp," he said.

Harry smirked and took a step forward. He shimmered out off view, grabbed Emelle and they disappeared from Nathaniel's line of sight. It wasn't the first time he used his Sheikah powers around them so Nathaniel, while startled, didn't panic when his daughter disappeared.

"Erenigh," Harry called softly as the boy made his way down the driveway. The boy turned around and offered them a big smile. He walked over. A whispered conversation followed. They were creating a war strategy. They needed to defeat the horrid water squirter.

"Attack!" Harry shouted as they ran out on the front lawn. A spray of water hit them head on but it didn't last for long. Erenigh and Emelle had reached their father and they were pushing him back.

Thump!

He hit the ground. Harry bolted forward and grabbed the hose. He pulled it back until he could reach the muzzle. He grabbed it changed the setting. Humming the Song of Storms he pointed it to the sky. A rainbow showed in the downpour. The raven smiled. He looked down at the now soaking wet Winters family and chuckled.

…

An hour or so later Harry and the Winters had moved out back so they could dry in the sun. Emelle and Erenigh were playing some kind of kids' game while their father and Harry sat on the porch watching them.

"Nathaniel," Harry said as he moved the thick envelope he'd received that morning in his hand.

"Yes Harry."

"I received a letter this morning and the address is really strange," the raven said.

Nathaniel turned around so he could get a look at the envelope the boy was holding. He reached out. "Can I see?" he asked. Harry nodded and handed the letter over. Nathaniel studied it for a moment. Harry was right; the address was very strange. How could they know where he slept? That and the lack of a post stamp was weird. He opened the envelope slowly and checked the contents.

Harry watched as the only grown-up on Earth he trusted read through his letter. After a while he was handed the thick parchment. "If I didn't know that some of the things you can do cannot be explained with science and your dreams have been explaining magic. I would never believe that letter to be serious," Nathaniel said.

Harry nodded and looked down at the parchment he was holding.

_HOGWARTS__SCHOOL__OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore _

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., _

_Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr Potter_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a _

_place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and _

_Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all _

_necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your_

_Owl by no later than 31 July_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

"What do they mean by 'await your owl'?" Harry asked confused. He looked up at Nathaniel, who looked just as confounded as he was, and bit his lip. _'Are they just gonna send me a letter and hope I can figure things out from there or what?' _Harry thought as he read through the supply list wondering how he was going to reply to the strange school. He and Nathaniel discussed it for a moment longer before they simply came to the conclusion that they'd wait and see. Hopefully the people who sent the letter would come around at some point.

It wasn't long before the twins dragged Harry off to play, and the raven was given little opportunity to think about the letter after that.

As he left the Winters that evening he was still wondering about the strange communication method. _'Owls, really,'_ he shook his head in annoyance.

...

Harry wasn't the one to fetch the mail the following day. He wasn't even in the house when it arrived actually. No he had already left. He was spending the day with the Winters whether the Dursleys liked it or not.

As the raven got back home that evening he noticed Aunt Petunia acting weird, and Vernon stuck his head into his cupboard after he gotten back from work. He was really awkward but Harry didn't care. He was being moved up to Dudley's second bedroom. That would be a relief since the cupboard was getting kinda' small.

He sat amongst the broken toys in Dudley's second bedroom listening to his cousin brawling at his mother. By then Harry had started to wonder what had brought this change around.

It would take a couple more days before he realised that the letters were still arriving. And both his Aunt and Uncle knew something about them. He didn't comment but he became more alert around the house especially when they thought he wasn't there.

…

That Sunday the letters came flushing down the chimney. It seemed like Vernon had finally had enough. He ordered them to pack and be back downstairs in five minutes.

Harry was shocked _'What on Earth is going on?'_ Not that he'd get any questions answered if he asked them.

They drove.

And drove.

Harry was looking out the window. He didn't really care what was going on. Honestly he just thought that the Dursleys were overreacting. What harm could a letter do really? Unless it was a rigged letter of course.

The hotel they finally stopped at was gloomy and the beds were damp and murky. Harry couldn't sleep. He sat on the window-sill and watched the lights of passing cars move by for hours. What he wouldn't do to be back with the Winters.

The following morning was awkward… to say the least. The owner of the hotel came over to their table as they ate a sorry excuse for a breakfast.

" 'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk," she said and held a letter up.

"I'll take them," Vernon said quickly and stood up. He followed the woman out off the dining-room.

Harry rolled his eyes. He already knew what those letters said. Vernon was wasting his time. But if he wanted to do it he could go ahead. Didn't bother him any.

…

Driving on that day, Vernon would stop at the most bizarre places get out off the car and look around before shaking his head. They had stopped in the middle of a forest, in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge and at the top of a multi-story car park. Dudley was complaining about missing some TV show or another, but one thing the bulky blond said caught Harry's attention. It was Monday and if it was Monday today then tomorrow was Tuesday, his eleventh birthday.

He sighed. He'd been looking forward to celebrating his birthday with the Winters. Now, however, it looked like they would be spending the day on a large rock in a miserable little rickety shack. Harry tried to keep warm as Vernon rowed them out to the rock. Cold water kept spraying up on them as they went.

Zant was not happy about the cold. He kept complaining silently during the whole trip cursing the Dursleys something fierce. It was hard for Harry not to laugh, but he did wonder where his snake had picked up such a vocabulary.

That evening supper consisted of one bag of crisps each and four bananas.

…

Harry was lying on the floor. Dudley was snoring on the moth-eaten sofa a few feet away, but the raven couldn't sleep. He was to cold. The storm which had been rolling in as the evening progressed was getting more and more ferocious as the night went on. He turned trying to find a comfortable position hunger gnawing on his inside. He was dozing off when suddenly…

BOOM! The whole shack trembled.

BOOM! Harry got up and moved into the shadows. He was not going to make himself an easy target. Dudley had woken up at the second knock. "Where is the cannon?" he asked stupidly.

Crash! Vernon came skidding into the room. He looked around rifle in hand "Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you… I'm armed!"

Harry looked at his uncle. _'Does he really think that a rifle is going to help him,'_ he wondered. Stepping back even further he let the shadows envelop him just like the Sheikah had taught him. He felt safer hidden in the dark. He always had.

SMACK! The door to the hut flew off its hinges and landed flat on the floor.

Harry narrowed his eyes. There was a giant of a man standing in the doorway. He had long dark shaggy hair and beard that covered his face but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. The raven watched as the man walked in, picked the door up and put it back on its hinges.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…" the giant said as he strode over to the sofa. He shooed Dudley off and sat down.

The sofa creaked and dipped. Harry doubted that it had been built to handle the giant's weight.

"Now where's Harry?" the giant asked and looked around.

The raven slowly stepped out off the shadows. "I'm here," he said folding his arms over his chest protectively.

The night proceeded rather strangely after that. The giant gave Harry his very first birthday cake and introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Hagrid started a fire in the fireplace and soon the smell of sausages filled the hut. An argument broke out as Hagrid went to tell Harry about the boy being a wizard. Apparently both Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia knew about magic. Harry wasn't too happy about that. He was finally given the stupid letter officially. He internally rolled his eyes at the address before skimming through the contents.

"What do they mean, they await my owl?" he asked as he still wondered about that.

"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," Hagrid said clapping a hand to his forehead with enough power to knock over a cart horse. He pulled out a live rather scruffy looking owl from one of his many pockets together with a quill and a roll of parchment. He scribbled a note and sent the poor bird off in the stormy night.

* * *

><p>The trip to Diagon Ally had been interesting.<p>

Harry had manage to buy more books than the book list asked for – specifically one on runes since it seemed interesting. He wondered if his knowledge of Hylian letters could come in handy.

He had a late birthday party with the Winters a few days after the trip and asked Nathaniel for help to get to King's Cross station on September first.

The rest of his summer was spent playing with Emelle and Erenigh and reading up on his school subjects. He had gotten a book called Hogwarts a History as well as the rest and the book was very interesting.

…

On September first Harry was picked up by Nathaniel. The man had raised an eyebrow at the owl Harry had with him. "Magic folk use them for post-delivery," the raven explained. "Her name is Hedwig."

Nathaniel shook his head in amusement. They were silent as the houses passing by their windows turned to fields. The redhead's brows furrowed. "If she can deliver letter can you keep in contact with us while you're away?" he asked.

Harry turned to look at the man. He smiled. "Yeah, that should be possible," he looked back at the owl sitting in the backseat. "When you deliver letters to the Winters can you stay with them until they have given you a response?" he asked her. Hedwig hooted and Harry laughed. "Of course you can," he turned back.

Nathaniel sighed. This kid really was something.

King's Cross station was crowded. Nathaniel looked down at the raven. "Where do you need to go?" he asked. Harry fumbled with the train ticket. He looked down at it. "I'm supposed to take the train from platform nine and three-quarters," he said confused. Nathaniel touched his hands and tilted the ticket so he could read it as well. He groaned. How were they going to find something that didn't exist?

They stood there for a moment before Harry started berating himself. He had magic. He could feel other magic. The platform had to be magical. He closed his eyes and sure enough there was a spot between platform nine and ten where there was a magic field. "That way," he said and started walking. Nathaniel followed him up to one of the divides between the platforms. "I don't think you can come with me through here, though," Harry said.

Nathaniel smiled. He reached out and pulled the raven into a hug. "Be careful, have fun and do your best to learn as much as possible. We want to hear all about it O.K." he said.

Harry nodded against the man's chest "I promise," he said before he grabbed the trolley and backed through the divide.

…

The ride to Hogwarts School was eventful. One of the older students had helped him to get aboard the train when he first arrived, and he'd been sitting in a compartment watching the crowd outside.

A redhead named Ron had joined him once the train had left the platform. They'd been talking about this and that.

Harry learned that the boy had five older brothers three of which were currently attending Hogwarts. Ron also complained about an old rat he owned now that his brother had been given and owl. Zant had carefully told his master that the rat wasn't what it seemed to be. Harry decided that keeping an eye on the rodent was in order.

During the trip several people passed the compartment and some of them stopped to say hello to the boys. The Weasley twins, Ron's older brothers, stuck their heads in and said something about a giant tarantula which had Ron turning green – apparently he was afraid of spiders. A boy looking for his toad asked if they had seen it, and sometime later a girl with bushy brown hair asked them about it as well. She was a bit annoying. Harry was convinced that she had a know-it-all attitude. He wasn't particularly fond of those.

Draco Malfoy a kid Harry had first met at Madam Malkin's showed up with two goons that looked like they would fit in Dudley's gang. He introduced himself and then he insulted Ron's entire family. Harry internally rolled his eyes. The pale-blond reminded him of how Sheik had been acting when they first met. He politely declined the blonde's hand. Malfoy had blushed and then he had tried to threaten the raven. Harry found that rather hilarious not that he let it show. He knew better.

Hagrid was gathering the first years together on the platform after they'd arrived. They would be travelling by boat up to the school. Harry's eyes widened as the school came in view. There was a loud collective "Ooooooh!" The school was a castle; a huge medieval castle perched atop a high mountain. Its widows sparkling like the stars in the sky.

Harry breathed in. The clear scent of the lake. The breeze blowing over the grounds carried with it smells of dew covered grass, flowers and the forest.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled and they ducked. The little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy into the mountain the castle stood atop of. The boats stopped by a small harbour and they got out.


	20. Poisoned Ice along the Coast

**Poisoned Ice along the Coast**

Now Link had complained about the keys in the Forest Temple. He'd hated the heat in the volcano and detested the mechanisms at the bottom of Lake Hylia. So why was he once more running around dealing with stupid temples?

Well he was doing it because the moon was threatening to fall on the land of Termina. Yes you heard correctly the stupid moon was falling. It sat there staring at the lands – huge yellow eyes glowing eerily.

It was all that stupid Mask Salesman's fault. If he hadn't been greedy enough to get the mask in the first place Link wouldn't need to save the world from a falling moon.

The blond sighed.

He had travelled into a forest only to end up in a swamp. It had been full of icky purple poison and big octos. The Deku form was very useful as he skipped over the poisonous water. He was glad he didn't need to swim in it. The octos had been a bit of a problem 'till he'd found and saved one of the hags he and Harry had fought in the Goddess of Sand. He couldn't quite melt that. He had saved the hags he and Harry had to fight. Anyway the hags were nowhere near as annoying as the monkeys.

_'__I hate monkeys,'_ Link thought. He'd met the monkeys in the swamp as well. They had helped him find the hags and then they had begged him to save their boss.

Link wiped his brow. He looked around a corner and sprinted across the bridge before him, avoiding the unmoving body of a pirate as he went. He sighed and opened the door. Looking down at two pirates in a room below the one he was in, he finally sat down and allowed himself a chance to rest.

His thoughts went back to the swamp. He had managed to get himself through the labyrinth the Deku royal family had around their palace. The guards hadn't been as bad as back by Hyrule Castle but it was close. _'Idiots.'_

The monkey boss had begged him to save the Deku Princess which he'd been accused of kidnapping and then the primate had taught the blond a melody. The guards had discovered what was going on and they had luckily decided to throw him out rather than kill him.

.

More poison and big bugs.

.

Link hated it. He'd managed to make his way through the temple in the end though. There had been the mini-boss. _'Crazy turtle and frog,' _he thought. Once again he'd been glad to be a Deku. That monster pair would not have been fun if he hadn't been capable of using the flowers around the room.

The boss had just been annoying. He certainly hoped he wouldn't need to go back and deal with it again. It was one of those things he was worried about since he kept travelling back in time. He must have lived these three days like dozens of times by now. Travelling through time like this really wasn't the blonde's favourite pastime. Everyone but him simply lived through these same three days in the same fashion. It meant that they had the same conversations and said the exact same things every time he spoke to them. There were variations of course depending on his actions that time around. He had managed to memorize certain conversation completely. _'It is kinda' fun to finish other people's sentences for them,'_ he thought.

And then there was the Deku Princess. It wasn't that she had been as bad as Ruto. No she'd actually been rather tough in the end. It was just that Link disliked princesses altogether these days.

The blond sat up straighter and looked down at the pirates once more. They looked an awful lot like the Gerudo women. He smirked as the red clad leader entered the room. He pulled his bow out and aimed the arrow at a beehive hanging above the women's heads.

Suppressing a chuckle, Link walked back out off the small room he has in. He jumped down to the door the women had just run out from and entered it. He pulled the Zora Mask from a pouch. He smiled at it. He actually enjoyed being a Zora. It was nothing like being a Goron. He didn't like being a Goron. They were big and clumsy. And apparently the enjoyed travelling by curling up like balls and rolling around. He was getting sick just thinking about it.

It had been a recurring feature to get both to and through Snowhead Temple. He had almost stopped this stupid quest when he'd found out that he'd have to take the form of other races as well as the stupid Deku. Like the Deku wasn't bad enough.

The mountain had the bonus of giving him a Lens of Truth which he really needed now that Harry wasn't here. He sighed. _'This really isn't as fun without him,'_ he thought. He dived down into a tank filled with water and pulled out a bottle. He was currently gathering Zora eggs. The singer of the band the Indigo-Go's had lost her eggs and as a result she had gone mute.

Link vaguely remembered Harry telling him about the Zora. The raven had travelled to Termina with his Master. They had been searching for something and the Zoras had saved Harry from drowning. He sighed. Harry had also told him what would happen to Termina if the moon fell. He wasn't going to let that happen no matter how much he hated doing this stuff.

…

"There," he said as he bottled the last egg in the Fort. Now he just had to find the Deep Sea Pythons. "How fun," he mumbled. _'Almost as fun as dealing with the Snowhead Temple.'_

Snowhead Mountain had been freezing. Even the Gorons had frozen. Well one of them at least. Link ran a hand through his hair. He had learned the Goron Lullaby and finally managed to silence the little brat who wouldn't stop screaming. _'Poor Gorons having to listen to that.'_

Link the Zora dived into the sea. He needed to find the last couple of eggs as soon as possible. The waters around Pinnacle Rock were murky as hell though. Hadn't one of the Zora said something about gold coloured fish being able to navigate the waters? The Fisherman back on Great Bay Coast had a seahorse in an aquarium. He sighed and made his way out off the water.

"A bloody picture of a bloody Pirate," Link growled as he walked back out off the Fisherman's hut. He had to take a bloody picture of one of those insane women because the Fisherman was feeling horny. _'Urg.'_

He swam back to the Pirate Fort, still grumbling. He pulled his camera out. At least it was a pirate he was supposed to photo now and not Tingle. He shuddered. That man needed to be locked up.

He rolled in behind a crate and readied his camera.

Click!

He checked the picture. _'It will have to do,'_ he thought. Not that greyscale photo did the woman justice. As Link the Zora jumped back into the sea, he wondered just where his items went when he changed appearance. He was still contemplating that as he walked in to the Fisherman's hut, human once more, and gave the man the photo.

_'__Finally,'_ Link thought as he made his way back to Pinnacle Rocks. He let the seahorse out and the small golden creature swam off. He was reminded of the ghost in Gerudo Desert as he followed the golden blur before him.

Then the water cleared and Link was standing in front of a deep hole. It was so dark he couldn't see the bottom. He closed his hands into fists and threw himself forward. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he muttered.

"Shit," Link hissed as a huge serpent or maybe eel shot its head out and almost swallowed him. He shifted and took a couple of strong strokes with the fins on his arms to get away from the beast. He watched the serpent moved back into its lair. Then he took a deep breath and moved up to the hole again. He quickly got out off the way of the giant mouth and narrowed his eye as he saw the soft flesh behind the monsters head. Zora scales could lead a sort of electrical current. He closed his eyes for just a second as he forced the power out from his fins.

Slash

Zap

Slash

Zap

The python dissolved leaving only blood behind.

Link scrunched his nose. "Great," he muttered.

The action was repeated seven more times and three eggs were gathered.

The seahorse that had helped Link get out to Pinnacle Rocks swam down into one of the lairs.

The blond followed only to stop when he reached the entrance to the lair. There was another seahorse there and they seemed quite happy to see each other again. He sighed and made his way back out to the Great Bay. He needed to bring the last of the eggs to the Professor in the Marine Research Laboratory.

* * *

><p>Link groaned as he watched the stupid orange frog make its way back up the wall. He watched the creature gather that weird yellowish guck around itself once more and charged the ice charm for his bow. He couldn't quite decide which one was the most annoying. This frog or the big one-eyed monster he had to defeat in order to gain the ice charm. He rolled out off the way from the falling frozen blob of jelly. He stood up, readied his sword and rushed forward slamming the blade right through the body of the annoying mini-boss. It burned and a small friendly frog appeared in its place.<p>

Link whipped the sweet of his forehead and cleaned his sword. He needed a rest.

He walked out off the room once he had picked up the boss key and sat down watching the water. He hated Water Temples. The one in Hyrule you had to lower and increase the water level in and this one he'd needed to switch the current inside. "Harry would just have turned the stupid current off altogether," he muttered.

At least there was only one temple to go after this one. He hoped that it wouldn't be as annoying as this one. With his luck though, it would probably be worse. The Shadow Temple came to mind.

Link fell asleep where he sat. He dreamed of Kokiri Forest back when Harry had been with him. In his dreams they aged until they went playing anymore…

…

Link shook himself awake. He groaned. "Yay, only boss left," he cheered sarcastically. The bosses in this damn land where highly annoying. "Goron go rollin', rollin', rollin'," he shuddered. The Goron sprouted thorns when it built up enough speed. The boss of the temple had been some sort of weird goat or bull or something. It had been frozen solid when he entered the boss room. Why by Din had he thought it was a good idea to melt the ice? The thing had started running and the only way he could possibly keep up was to become a Goron. Spinning around round spinning around. The monster shot electric bolts around the room when it got angry.

…

"A giant fish," Link whimpered.

"What are you doing?! There is no time to lose! Dive underwater and attack it! Hurry!" Tatl screeched panicked.

Link for the umpth time felt the urge to strangle the stupid fairy but he controlled himself. He donned the Zora Mask and dived down. He guessed that the deep-sea pythons had been some sort of training for this.

He speeded out off the fish reach and grabbed on to its side. He'd make short work of this stupid thing. Gathering the electrical power he could charge his fins with he upped the power as much as he could before stabbing the fish with his fin.

The boss desperately tried to shake him off but Link wouldn't budge. He raised his fin again and cut into the soft yellow scales on the fish's side. He twisted his arm and ripped the flesh open. Blood flowed out off the wound. It coloured the water around the green fined Zora.

Link lost his grip on the fish, and rather than staying in the water where he could barely see, he got back up on the platform in the middle of the room. He breathed in slowly. Then the fish jumped out off the water and nearly caught him in its jaws.

Link's heart was beating faster as he got back on the cold rock. He charged his fins and waited. _'If it jumps once it might jump again,'_ he thought. He was right and as the fish passed him he ran his fins into the soft yellow scales on the monster side.

Blood splattered over the grey stone beneath his feet.

Link pulled his arms back and rolled out off the way of the fish big pink tail.

The water in the room slowly turned red as the fish desperately fought to stay alive. It wouldn't make it.

Link sneered at the remains of the crumpled boss. He grabbed the mask which represented Gyorg's remains.

He would be heading to Ikana Vally after this.


	21. Clues and Trials

**Clues and Trials**

The feast was grand and the sorting nerve-racking. He was a Gryffindor now. He imagined that Link would be a Gryffindor too.

…

_Dear Emelle, Erenigh and Nathaniel_

_I've been at Hogwarts for two months now. I'm sorry that I haven't written earlier. I ended up in_

_Gryffindor. I was happy about it until I had another dream. My magical master in the World of Hylia_

_was Salazar Slytherin. It feels strange to have denied the house of my Master. But I guess that it takes_

_a really sneaky snake to hide amongst the lions. _

_Classes are rather basic right now. Well in everything but potions. I promise the potions professor has _

_it out for me, and he has obviously decided that we should know all the basics already. It doesn't _

_really matter though. Since Master Salazar teaches me potions too. _

_I made friends with a guy named Ronald, Ron for short, on the train and we're trying to find our way_

_through the castle. That's right the school is a castle with towers and dungeons and everything. _

_There was a break- in at the wizarding bank the same day Hagrid and I was there. The paper said that_

_nothing was stolen because the vault had been emptied the same day. Sound almost like the vault _

_Hagrid took a small parcel out off when we were there. And there is a huge three headed dog in the _

_castle. Hermione thinks that it's guarding something. I wonder if it is the package that Hagrid picked_

_up at Gringotts. He did say that there was no safer place than Hogwarts._

_Oh, Hermione sort of became friends with Ron and I after we saved her from a troll a few days ago. It _

_was insane really. I wonder how a troll made it into the castle. _

_Then there is Professor Quirrell. He is strange and Zant really doesn't like him. I don't know but it's _

_like he has some sort of corrupt cloud following him around. I'm going to be careful around him I _

_promise!_

Harry taped his pen to the paper. Nathaniel had given him some regular ballpoint pens and notepaper before he left. _'What else should I write?'_ he contemplated.

"Oh."

_There is a boy who walks around with two magical Dudleys. He is mean to be simple. We had flying_

_ lessons. Yes witches and wizards do fly on brooms. And this guy, Malfoy, stole a remember-all. I don't _

_really get it either. From another kid, Neville, after Neville had fallen off his broom and gotten hurt. _

_Anyway I got up on my broom and went after him. Long story short I caught the remember-all and _

_now I'm the seeker for Gryiffindors quidditch team. _

_Eh, got side tracked, sorry. Malfoy he challenged me to a Wizard's duel. I was going to decline. I mean_

_ I got better things to do and then Ron, the idiot told Malfoy the he would be my second. Don't worry _

_though we didn't go. I mean it wouldn't have been anywhere near fair with my Sheikahn skills after _

_all. _

_Hope you're all O.K. and that you don't have to deal with trolls or three-headed dogs. Miss you._

_Loads of Hugs_

_Harry_

_Ps. I thought I'd let you guys try some wizarding candy it's kinda fun and strange. _

* * *

><p>Weeks went by. Weeks filled with quidditch practice, lessons, and homework – Harry had decided that he would only use the knowledge he gain at Hogwarts when he did class related work. It was for his own safety really.<p>

Winter and Christmas was approaching swiftly. One morning it was just there. Hogwarts had been covered in snow for weeks. The trio of friends had found out that the three-headed dog, Fluffy, was guarding something which concerned no one but Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. Harry knew he had read that name somewhere before but he couldn't remember where. Hermione had left the castle with most of Hogwarts as the Christmas holiday started.

Harry woke up early on Christmas morning. He rubbed his eyes and reached out for his glasses. Putting them on, he could see a sizable pile of presents lying at the foot of his bed. Ron was still snoring away in his bed. The raven put his dressing-gown on and sat down on his bed studying the parcels. He could see the one from the Winters and a letter from the Dursleys, but he wondered who had sent the other gifts. Well he guessed that one could be from Ron and another on from Hermione. He picked up a parcel on it: _To Harry, From Hagrid, _was scrawled on it. He smiled. It was a roughly cut wooden flute. _'Hagrid must have made it himself,' the_ raven thought. He reached out and grabbed the letter attached to the present from the Winters.

_Merry Christmas Harry_

_It's nice to know that you are doing well. How is quidditch? And that you enjoy learning magic. I'm_

_ sorry you couldn't be with us this Christmas but mother insisted. **Can you send more candy?**_

_ Hopefully you'll have fun staying at school. _

_As you have noticed, both Erenigh and Emelle wanted to write as well. **Hey Harry I miss you Nanny's**_

**_ is fun but it would have been nicer with you here. _**_They keep stealing the pen. I hope you'll find your _

_gift enjoyable. Hey Harry did you know that Granma's dog can eat a whole chicken. **We've been **_

**_building snowmen and daddy did a really ugly dog. _**_And that you have a nice Christmas day. **My **_

**_snowman has green eyes like you. _**_Granma had made two and Phooey took the second one while we _

_were eating. **And Erenigh's snowman is all crooked. **Granma wasn't happy with her. _

Harry was chuckling as he continued reading. They really were amusing sometimes.

A groan came from Ron's bed and the redhead sat up. "Happy Christmas," he said groggily.

"You too," the raven responded. He watched as Ron attacked his own gift pile before he actually opened the present from the Winters. It was a portable cassette player with several music cassettes. He smiled. It might take him a while to get it to work but he'd manage. Out off the next parcel something fluid and silver-grey fell to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds. It looked almost like water lying there. He reached down and lifted the shining silvery cloth up; it was strange. It didn't just look like water it felt like someone had managed to weave water into a fabric somehow. Harry could feel the magic running through the cloth. He wondered what it could do.

Ron looked up from his own parcel and gasped. "I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice dropping the Every-Flavoured Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is … they're really rare, and really valuable."

Harry looked at the redhead for a moment. He wasn't all that surprised that the material was rare not with the magic he could feel coming off it. "What is it?" he asked since Ron seemed to at least have an educated guess.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," the redhead said. He had a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is … try it on."

Harry carefully placed the cloak around his shoulders. He gasped. His body couldn't be seen. "Awesome," he exclaimed.

Ron was sitting on his bed staring at the cloak. "I'd give anything for one of those," he said "Anything. What's the matter?" Ron had noticed the look on Harry's face.

"Nothing," the raven responded quickly. There had been a note on the floor written in narrow, loopy writing:

_Your father left this in my possession before he died._

_It is time it was returned to you._

_Use it well_

_A Very Merry Christmas to you._

There was no signature. Harry put it aside. He'd contemplate this later. He opened Hermione's gift. It was a large box of Chocolate Frogs. Then he picked up the other unknown parcel. It was a green knitted jumper and a large box of home-made fudge that was soft and sweet.

That evening after a wonderful Christmas day Harry couldn't sleep so he dragged the cloak out off his trunk. _'It belonged to dad… my father used this cloak,' _he thought in wonder. Wrapping himself up he decided to go exploring. No one would be able to see him under the cloak, and if he combined that with shadow walking, the entire castle would be available to him.

He wondered as he walked down an empty corridor where he should go. While aimless wandering was fun he would like to have some sort of goal. Passing a painting, its occupant sleeping in a study, Harry realised that now would be a good time to go to the library. He could search through it for something useful on Flamel and wouldn't need to worry about Madam Pince or Filch.

The library was quiet and dark almost eerie. Harry carefully made his way among the many bookshelves. He checked a title here a name there but nothing seemed to be right. He glanced over at the restricted section from time to time. _'Maybe I could go over there. No one would know anyway so why not?'_ he walked up to the divide and stepped over it. He was wondering why they only had a rope separating the two sections. Wasn't that a bit stupid anyone could just walk in. There wasn't any focused magic around either. Harry shook his head _'Fools.'_

The titles on this side of the rope were a bit strange. Most of them weren't even written in English. Harry couldn't understand why. It wasn't like they learnt any foreign languages so why were there books like that in the library. Who could ever find them useful?

As he walked on he could feel the magic coming from some of the books. It was sinister. The hairs on his arms rose and he shuddered. He didn't pull any books out. He somehow doubted they would be able to help him.

After what felt like hours he gave up. There was nothing in there that could help him. As he walked out on the he didn't pay much attention to where he was going, and he suddenly found himself in a corridor he'd never seen before.

There was a noise behind him. He spun around. It sounded like feet hitting the stone floor. He ran. Maybe the cloak could protect him but he wouldn't take any chances. Soon he'd take so many turns he had no idea where he was and the footsteps were still approaching. In front off him a door stood slightly ajar. He carefully made his way into the room as not to nudge the door for fear that the person following him would hear. He made his way in and breathed in as silently as possible.

Just moments later the footsteps passed his hiding place and moved on.

Harry looked around his panic diminishing slowly now that the immediate danger was gone. It looked to be an unused classroom. There were desks and chairs piled up against the walls. A wastepaper basket had been upturned; scrunched up papers had fallen out on the floor. On the far side off the room stood something which couldn't belong in there – it was a mirror. A beautiful golden mirror with an ornate frame and clawed feet. He walked closer to it. The mirror was as high as the ceiling and at the top stood written: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. He looked down into the mirror and gasped. He'd expected it to show him the room, empty since he was still wearing the cloak, but instead it showed him and Link. The blond was standing behind him. Tan arms were wrapped around his waist. They were both smiling brightly.

Then the picture changed for a moment. They were older now and they weren't hugging anymore. No they were kissing… deeply. Then the image changed back. Harry blinked confused. _'What on earth was that?'_ he wondered. _'And why is this mirror showing me Link? How does it even know about him?' _Harry looked back up at the inscription. Then he rolled his eyes. It was so obvious. "I show not your face but your heart's desire," he read softly. _'Well that explains it,' _he thought annoyed. _'It shows me Link because I want nothing more than to be back with him.' _

He took another good look before he decided that it wouldn't do to waste away in front of the mirror. He was better off trying to find a way back.

As he went to bed back up in Gryffindor tower his mind wandered to the picture of him and Link kissing. Why by Nayru had they been doing that he wondered. He fell asleep contemplating the somewhat yucky discovery.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Nathaniel, Emelle and Erenigh <em>... Harry wrote one day.

_There is something seriously weird going on at this school. I had detention last night because_

_ Hermione and I got caught out off bed after curfew. Of course that happened because Hagrid had_

_ decided that it would be nice to have a live baby dragon as a pet. We were getting it out off the _

_country to a dragon reserve. Don't worry we'd already delivered Norbert (the dragon) to some friends _

_of Ron's big brother Charlie. _

_Anyway the detention was held in the Forbidden Forest which is so named because it is forbidden. _

_Isn't that strange? Taking four kids into a forest they aren't supposed to be in. That's not the point _

_though. No the point is that Voldemort (the wizard that killed my parents) is currently in the forest _

_drinking unicorn blood. And if the centaur hadn't showed up I'm not all that certain what would have_

_ happened. _

_That and a few weeks ago Hermione figured out that the parcel Hagrid picked up at Gringotts was _

_most likely the Philosopher's Stone. It supposedly can turn any metal into gold and create the Elixir of _

_Life. I don't really get why anyone would like to live forever seems awfully boring to me but hey who_

_ knows. _

_Oh, and the Potions Professor, Snape, was threatening Professor Quirrell. Something about watching_

_ his movements and not wanting him as an enemy. It sounds almost like Snape wants the stone (Ron _

_thinks so) I'm not sure though. Snape doesn't really seem like the type. _

_I hope that everything is well with you and that you, Erenigh, get better soon O.K. It's no fun to be sick_

_ I know but don't be to annoying. _

_End of the year exams are starting soon enough, and Hermione is convinced that we need to spend_

_ every waken moment in the library learning. _

_I really miss you guys and look forward to seeing you again._

_Loads of Hugs _

_Harry_

Exams were finally over. They were sitting outside watching the twins and their friend, Lee Jordan, play with the giant squid living in the lake. Something had been nagging at the back of Harry's head for a while now but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"No more revision," Ron sighed happily. He stretched out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there is no need to worry yet," he told the raven.

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not the exam. I feel like there is something I've forgotten – something obvious," he said running a hand through his hair.

"That just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered that we'd done the test already," Hermione said.

Harry smiled at her. He doubted that was it really but he had no wish to argue with her. His thoughts turned to Fluffy. No one knew how to get past the three-headed dog so why was he so nervous. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to… he stood up suddenly.

"Where're you going?" Ron asked sleepily

Harry had already started walking, though, so the other two had to run to catch up with him. "Don't you think it's a bit odd," he hurried his steps, "that someone was wandering around with a dragon egg in their pocket. I mean it's against the law and all. And then the person just happened to meet Hagrid, who would like a dragon more than anything."

"What are you on about?" Ron asked but the raven didn't answer. He'd stared running across the ground towards the Forest.

Hagrid smiled at them as they came closer. He was shelling peas into a large bowl "Hullo," he said. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

Ron started answering in the affirmative but Harry cut him off, "No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I have to ask you something. That night when you won Norbert what did you guys talk about? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

Hagrid scratched his beard. "Mighta come up," he said trying to remember. "Yeah… he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here . . . He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after … so I told him an' I said what I'd always, really wanted was a dragon . . . an' then . . . I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks … Let's see … yeah, then he said he had a dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted … but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home . . . So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy …"

Harry's mind was racing a mile a minute. _'Shit,'_ he thought out loud he asked, "And did he seem interested in Fluffy?" calmly. With the next few sentences Hagrid spoke the man confirmed the raven's suspicions. Hagrid had told the stranger how to get past the three-headed dog. They had left running, ignoring Hagrid's words pleading with them to forget what he'd said.

"We have to tell Dumbledore," Hermione said when they finally stopped just inside the Entrance Hall.

"Yeah…" Harry breathed "But where is his office?" he asked. They had no idea how to find Dumbledore. He tried to calm his breathing while thinking about what to do next.

"What are you three doing inside?"

Harry turned. It was Professor McGonagall. She watched them sternly as she shifted the books she was carrying.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said rather bravely.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

Harry straightened. They weren't doing anything wrong and right now they looked far too guilty of something. "It's a personal matter Professor. Ron and Hermione are simply trying to help me find the Headmaster's office," he said convincingly.

McGonagall's brows furrowed. "If it's something school related I'm more than capable of handling it Mr Potter. The Headmaster is currently unavailable he left for the Ministry of Magic ten minutes ago," she said.

Harry bit his lip he wasn't certain that McGonagall could help him with his problem. "O.K. professor but could we do this in your office please," he asked the stern woman. She nodded and Harry turned to his friends. "I'll see you later O.K." he told them. Hermione who had realised that Harry had just saved them from having to tell the professor they knew more than they should nodded and dragged Ron back outside.

Harry followed McGonagall up to her office. He sat down in a chair as she sent her books back to their shelves with a wave off her wand.

"So what is the problem Mr Potter?" she asked as she sat down at the other side of the desk.

Harry took a deep breath before he asked, "Is there any way I could not return to the Dursleys' this summer?" he asked timidly. He really hadn't wanted to do this but it had been the best thing he'd come up with.

McGonagall looked at him. Harry was certain he'd seen concern flash through her eyes for a moment. "Why don't you want to go back there Mr Potter they are your family are they not?"

"Yes Professor they are but … well they don't really treat me like family. This Christmas was the first time I got any real presents," the raven didn't want to sound too pathetic but he wouldn't lie either. "They don't really want me to come back." He looked up at his Transfiguration Professor.

She looked openly concerned now. "I'll see what I can do Mr Potter thank you for feeling comfortable enough to tell me," she thought for a moment. "You should go back out to your friends. I promise I'll look into the problem." With those words she dismissed him.

Harry walked back down to the grounds. He doubted she would be able to do anything. He rounded a corner and Snape was standing there. "Good afternoon," the man said smoothly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. The Potions Professor had never been quite so civil before. "Good afternoon sir," the raven answered. If there was something his Master had taught him it was to show respect were it was due. And since Snape was polite he could be polite back.

The dark-haired man looked at him suspiciously. "You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"I know Professor I just had a conversation with Professor McGonagall and was on my way back outside," Harry explained politely. The man looked like he didn't quite believe the raven but Harry didn't care. He gave a small bow and continued down the path. There was another thing Salazar had taught him. Never be predictable…EVER.

That evening Harry got back out off bed once everyone else had gone to sleep. He pulled his Invisibility Cloak out off his trunk and slowly made his way down the stairs. The common room was quiet. The fire in the hearth had died down and now only spread a faint glow. Harry moved up to the portrait hole carefully. He reached out to open it.

"What are you doing?" said a voice behind him.

Harry spun around it was Neville. Harry's mind was racing. _'What should I do now?' _he wondered. He didn't want to hurt the other boy. Neville was nice just a bit quiet that was all. He didn't have to worry, though, because the decision was taken out off his hands when he heard Hermione's voice, "Petrificus Totalus!" she cried. Harry looked up at her.

"You really thought we would let you go alone did you?" she said matter of factually.

Harry smiled at her. He remembered telling Link something similar before they left Kokiri Forest to see Princess Zelda. "I wasn't certain you'd want to come along. We could get expelled after all," he said.

Ron snorted. "Like that matter if You-Know-Who comes back," he said and Hermione nodded.

Harry shook his head and held the cloak up "O.K. come on but don't say I didn't warn you," he said humorously.

They eventually managed to get to the third-floor corridor. Though, there had been a close call with Pevees the poltergeist. Harry opened the door; loud snoring reached their ears as it swung open. The raven's brows furrowed. There was a harp playing as they entered.

"Snape has already gone down," Ron whispered.

Harry nodded not that he was certain they would find the Potions Professor down there. He pulled out the flute Hagrid had made for him just in case it would be needed. They moved one of the dog's giant paws away from the trapdoor. The raven noticed the harp slowing down and put his flute to his lips playing a random melody.

Ron grabbed the ring attached to the trapdoor and pulled. The hole was pitch-black. "So who should go first?" he asked nervously. Harry waved in front off his face and then he pointed to himself. "You sure?"

Harry nodded again.

"O.K. give Hermione the flute."

Harry handed the wooden flute over and jumped.

Flump! He landed on something, something soft. It felt like a plant of some sort. "It's O.K. you can follow there is a soft landing," he called up to the small opening above. Then he got up and shadowed off the plant. The stupid thing was trying to grab a hold of him.

Flump!

Flump!

Ron and Hermione had joined him.

"What's this stuff?" Ron asked.

"I don't know some kind of plant," Harry answered. "Hermione do you know what it is?"

The girl had started struggling against the vines the moment she landed and was soon standing next to Harry. She looked over at Ron. "Stop moving," she ordered him as the redhead had finally noticed that he was stuck. "I know what this is… it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called that's a great help," Ron snarled. He was leaning back in an effort to keep the plant from curling around his neck.

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" Hermione responded. "Devils Snare, Devil's Snare … What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp…"

Harry didn't wait any longer than that. He whipped out his wand and muttered a spell sending off a jet of flames at the plant. It retracted into a dark corner leaving Ron free to scramble over to them. "O.K?" he asked his friend.

Ron rubbed his neck. "Yeah I guess," he answered.

"It's a good thing you pay so much attention in Herbology Hermione," Harry praised the girl. She smiled at him.

They were walking down a narrow pathway and could soon hear a sound like flapping birds just softer. Harry placed a hand against the damp stone wall next to him. The path had started sloping downwards, and he didn't want to slip.

"What is that sound," Ron whispered.

"Wings," Harry answered.

Light came from up ahead. The raven raised a hand to shield against it. They stepped into a room with a very high ceiling. Little keys were fluttering around above their heads. Opposite them there was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Ron asked.

Harry looked up at the keys. "No I don't think so…but the door is probably locked," he said.

"Huh."

"What makes you say that Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry pointed up at the colourful wings. "They are keys," he said.

Hermione looked up and blinked in surprise. Harry was right they were keys. When she lowered her gaze again the raven was standing by an old broom. He touched the handle and quickly mounted the broom.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the keys. He studied them for a moment before taking off. One of the keys with blue wings had ruffled feathers. He bolted off after it following the glimmering key.

Crunch!

He'd caught the key against the wall. He lowered the broom down and dismounted.

The next chamber was dark so dark you couldn't see your hand in front off your face. As they stepped in, however, it flooded with light. Before them stood a massive chessboard the chessmen were so big that the children barely reached halfway up their bodies. Harry closed his eyes this would be so much easier if Hermione and Ron weren't here. He could have simply shadowed across the room. He didn't pay much attention as Ron stared ordering him and Hermione around the board. It wasn't until Hermione screamed that he shook out off his thoughts.

Ron was lying on the edge off the chessboard. He was unconscious. Harry looked around the board and then he took three steps to his left. The white king removed his crown and threw it at his feet. The chess pieces parted and bowed.

They walked past them. Hermione looked at the raven "What if he's …?"

"He'll be fine," Harry said. There had been nothing wrong with the redhead's magic after all. "What do you think is next?"

"Well," Hermione took on a thoughtful expression. "We've had Sprout's that was the Devil's Snare… Flitwick must've put charms on the keys… McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive… that leaves Quirrell's spell and Snape's…"

Harry had opened the door and a horrid stench spread out around them. They covered their noses and mouths with their robes. On the floor in front off them lay a troll. It was even larger than the one they fought on Halloween. They quickly made their way through the room neither wishing to spend more time than necessary in there. Pushing open the door at the far side of the room, Harry could see a row of seven bottles standing on a table. They walked into the room and as the door closed a purple fire sprung up burning brightly. The opposite door had been covered at the same time but those flames were black.

Harry walked up to them. He sighed. _'If Hermione wasn't here I could shadow right through these,'_ he thought irritably. He didn't let it show as he turned around to face the brunette, though. It wasn't her fault he didn't want to let her know what he was capable off.

She was holding a parchment of some kind. He walked up to her and started reading over her shoulder. Rolling his eyes he walked up to the bottles and started uncorking them. Sniffing the contents he held two bottles up. "Which one goes where," he asked.

Hermione blinked at him confused. When had Harry become good enough at potions to tell which ones were the right ones she wondered? She shook her head tying to rid it off those thoughts they wouldn't help them now. She read through the note again "The small one will take us forward and the big round one will take us back," she said.

Harry looked at the small bottle. "There isn't enough for the two of us in here," he said. They watched each other for a while. Harry bit his lip "You should go back."

"But Harry…"

"No listen you go back wake Ron up and use the brooms in the key room to get back out and warn the adults O.K." Harry really hoped she'd agree.

"Harry what if You-Know-Who is with him?"

Harry smiled at her softly. "Well I was lucky once wasn't I?" he said half-joking.

It took a minute or two but she eventually nodded throwing her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her back gently – mindful not to drop the bottles he was holding.

"Harry," Hermione said softly, "you're a great wizard you know."

"Thank you Hermione." He handed her the round bottle. She drank and shuddered. "You O.K?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah but it feels like ice," she answered.

Harry nodded "Now go quickly before it wears off."

"Good luck … take care…"

"GO."

Hermione turned and walked through the purple flames. Harry breathed out 'Finally,' he put the bottle back down where he found it. **_"Zant," _**he hissed. The little serpent poked his head out off the raven's neckline.

**_"_****_Yes Master,"_** he said.

**_"_****_Things might get dangerous. I want you to know that you have my full permission to bite whoever is in that room when we enter," _**Harry said determined. Zant hissed pleased. He had an all clear.

Harry shadowed through the flames but kept himself hidden for good measure. Quirrell was standing by the Mirror of Erised muttering to himself. Harry wasn't all that surprised. Sure Snape looked more the type with the way he acted most of the time, but Harry doubted that the Potions Professor was that desperate. "Good evening Professor," Harry said as he stepped out off the shadows.

Quirrell turned slightly so he could see the intruder. He smiled. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter," there wasn't even a hint of a stutter left in his voice. "You don't seem surprised to see me," he observed.

"No I wouldn't say I am even though Snape was a good candidate for a while there," Harry smirked. "But you were the one who tried to kill me during that quidditch match weren't you Professor? Hermione just got it wrong."

"It would seem you're more observant than I thought… It matters little though since I'm going to kill you tonight," he snapped his fingers and ropes appeared. They met with thin air, however, as Harry shadowed. He held an arm up and Zant slithered out off his sleeve. The little serpent buried his fangs in the Professors neck. The man's scream was short-lived as the poison took effect. He slumped to the floor.

Harry hadn't liked the Professor from the start. There had been something very wrong with the man. A ghostly shape rose out off the corps slowly. It roared and Harry brought his magic up full force. He over did it though as the mirror exploded into sharp pieces that clattered against the walls. Harry's vision faded and he collapsed next to Quirrell's burnt corpse.


	22. Grinning Moon

**Grinning Moon**

Termina Field was… well it wasn't much of a field really. It consisted of the four different landscapes that Termina held. You had the forest slash swamp to the south which had a nice grass plane with trees and other greenery; the mountains to the north which was covered in snow; the Great Bay to the west which was a beach and the canyon to the east where he was currently heading which held a row of stone pillars.

He steered Epona up the stony path and past the bombchus.

They jumped a fence and Link looked up at a cliff face. "Now what?" he asked out loud.

"Yee-hee-hee. What are you doing in a place like this?"

Link looked around where did that voice come from?

"Ikana Hill beyond here is the place where spirits with troubles and lingering regrets wander. Even now, the spirits wander in search of one who can save them."

_'__Oh great another rescue mission,'_ Link had finally located the one who was speaking to him. It looked like the Poe Collector back in Castle Town.

"It is unfortunate, but it is no place for one such as you..." the hooded man…creature said. "But if you must enter, then you must obtain the mask containing wandering spirits that can be found near the ranch. Without that mask, you cannot save their souls... Until then, I will not let you pass by here. Yee-hee-hee!"

_'__Great so I have to travel back to the ranch,'_ Link thought. Like that hadn't been annoying enough the first time. He hopped he wouldn't need to save Romani again.

Who knew cow stealing ghosts existed?

Well Link hadn't… not until Romani, a girl who looked an awful lot like Malon, had asked him to help her save the Ranch's cows from said ghosts. She had been very secretive about the whole thing not wanting her older sister to know.

* * *

><p>"Creepy Garo's mask … check," Link said as he mounted Epona once more.<p>

As Link travelled back up the road to Ikana his thoughts travelled to Harry. He really missed the raven. This would have been so much easier with the other boy around. Blue eyes narrowed as Link remembered something Harry had told him.

The raven had travelled to Ikana. He and his master had been looking for a scroll in the Stone Tower Temple. Link decided he might as well try to find the thing when he got there.

He looked back up at the cliff face, donning the Garo's mask as he did so. "Yee-hee-hee. That's a nice mask you're wearing." The Poe Collector had appeared again. Link rolled his eyes beneath the mask. "That is the mask of the leader of the ninjas who once spied on the hilltop castle with the blood-stained history. With that, you may be able to call out their spirits that even now are still wandering. Perhaps you may be able to save the souls that wander beyond here... Yee-hee-hee."

A withered tree grew out off the ground next to the man…

Link pulled out his Hookshot. He pulled himself up and started walking.

"Ghrun … ghrun… ghrun…"

_'__What is that?'_ Link wondered as he turned. There was a Goron like creature rolling towards him. He stepped out off its way and watched it hit a wall…

BOOM! It exploded.

"Ghrun … ghrun…"

Another one had appeared. Link looked at it for a split second before he started running. He made sure not to go in a straight line just for safety. He did not want to get blown up.

The area the path lead to was big and open. Eh… or something. A man was running in circles to his right. On a closer inspection Link could see that it was the thief, a man he'd stopped from stealing the bomb delivery bag from the old lady in the bomb store.

Thinking about the Bomb Store there was a Goron in there who sold Powder Kegs. Now that was a bomb. Link wondered if he couldn't convince Harry to make him something like that when he found the raven. It was also the only thing he liked about the Goron mask. The kegs were so heavy that he couldn't possibly carry them as he was now but the Goron could.

It made for a wonderful explosion.

Link raised his bow and fired off an ice arrow at the octorok in front off him. Jumping over the river using the octoroks he could see another withered tree. He lined his hookshot up and fired bringing himself up there and then to another one… and another one. The plain he stood on now was dry and dreary. Gibdos were circling a small house. Link blinked. _'What the…'_ the house had big trumpet bells coming out off its roof. He walked closer; he drew his sword and killed the gibdos off. Watching the house he walked around back.

Slash!

The body of a guay fell to the ground.

There was a riverbed going past the house. Link looked at it for a moment. The house was equipped with a waterwheel which meant that there was supposed to be water coming down here. Link turned and made his way past a few rounded stone buildings.

The riverbed came out off a cave. Next to the opening there was a sign:

Spring Water Cave

Entry prohibited due to ghost sightings!

"Really…must there be ghosts," Link whined as he looked into the darkness of the cave. He walked in slowly. It was cold and getting colder as he went. The cave that finally became visible to him was sending shivers up his spine. It wasn't the way it looked so much as the way it felt. Even though there were several skeletons lying around. He took a few steps forward. The air shifted. There was a voice travelling though the cave. "What business have you in Ikana Kingdom, land where only the dead roam?"

Link turned his head back and forth. Where was he? Then the ghost appeared before him.

"This is no place for one as full of life as you."

The ghost was short and chubby. He had a big, curled orange moustache and matching orange hair covered by a hat adorned with a sun symbol. His red cape hung down his shoulders.

"Or do you say that you wish to join the dead? That is fine…"

Link watched as the composer waved his baton in a circle. The air around them changed.

"If that is the case, then sleep gently to the melody of darkness that the great composer, Sharp, shall play…"

The blond was feeling weird.

"…and join the ranks of the dead."

As the composer started playing he could feel his skin burn. He whimpered, fell down to his knees and placed his hands over his ears.

His breaths were starting to come in short pants. Then he felt something else. Magic was flowing from one of his pouches. He forced the knots open with trembling fingers.

Harry's violin was glowing faintly. He reached out and touched it. A picture flashed before his eyes. It showed the raven standing on a small rock playing the Song of Storms in the desert. Link removed his hand from the instrument. _'Does that mean I should play the Song of Storms now?' _he wondered. Figuring he had nothing to lose by trying it Link pulled his ocarina out and started playing.

It started raining.

"W-what is this? …This song?" Sharp asked confused. Link noticed that his skin had stopped hurting as Sharp's song stopped playing. "…N-No, it can't be. This song…"

The ghost started spinning uncontrollably before disappearing and then the cave returned to its normal state. Water was flowing down the wasteland once more. In the distance Link could hear a tune being played. It was both cheerful and morbid.

Sharp reappeared. He seemed calmer now. "Flat, my dear brother. Forgive your foolish brother who dreamt of the revival of the Royal Family…" he said.

Link walked forward slowly his steps creating splashy echoes in the cave. Then the ghost turned to him. "…Ye who do not fear the dead… With my brother's song you have broken the curse that was placed upon me. It is all thanks to you."

Link blinked. He had no idea what the ghost was talking about. _'What brother?' _he wondered.

"We dead should not be lingering here in this land. It was all a trick of the masked one who had upset things. If you truly do not fear the dead… I wish for you to go to the temple in this land and sever the root of the evil curse that torments us."

_'__Yes great I got it there is a temple here as well. Can you get to the bloody point?'_ Link thought impatiently.

"To do that… I, the only one who knows the way into the temple, shall direct you to the King. The King is in the ruins of Ikana Castle, awaiting the coming of the one who will break the curse… I have made my final request." The ghost, Sharp, faded away.

As Link came back out on the plain, he could see a young girl standing by the river. She seemed to be studying the water. He walked forward but as he stepped into the water of the river the girl looked up and ran inside the house.

The blond followed her up to the door and knocked. "Excuse me miss," he said but there was no answer. Link bit his lip hadn't Harry said something about the man living in this house dying from a gibdo infection or something like that. He couldn't let that happen. He sank down next to the house wall carefully as to not alert the girl of his presence.

She came out again a moment later walking up past him. She was heading up the hill before Link slinked into the house. The music was louder inside. But there was no sign of another person.

He gazed down the stairs. _'Maybe he's down there?' _The blond walked down. Tools were scattered across the floor. On a wall there were posters one featured a gibdo the other one Link guessed was a Garo based on how his Garo's mask looked. Apart from the machinery and tools down there, there was a cupboard. Link walked up to the multi-coloured piece of furniture. As he got close, however, the doors were flung open. A half man half gibdo stepped out off the cupboard. His visible eye was yellow and bloodshot. Link fumbled with his ocarina. The guy had scared the living daylights out off him. He placed the ocarina to his lips and played the Song of Healing.

Slowly the bandages started falling off the man's body. Soon he was standing there staring down at his hands.

"…Father?"

A young girl's voice reached the blonde's ears. He turned slightly. The small girl was standing in the stairs. "Father!" she cried before running up to the man. She cried into his blue striped shirt.

"Pamela!" the man ran his hand through his daughter's brown hair in a comforting motion. He looked up at Link and asked, "What have I been doing this whole time?"

"You … haven't been doing anything… You were having a bad dream. You were just having a little nightmare," the girl replied between sobs.

Link shook his head. He wasn't going to tell the father different to be honest. He doubted that the man needed to know that he might have killed his own daughter. He picked up a mask from the pile of bandages. He guessed he'd need it to move on.

"… Pamela," the father whispered.

Link smiled softly before heading back out off the house. He needed to get to the Ikana Castle.

* * *

><p>NEVER AGAIN! Just never again was he doing this.<p>

Like the well full of gibdos hadn't been bad enough no he needed to avoid redeads, fight floormasters, make certain he didn't get squished by the falling ceiling only to realise that he'd need a Powder Keg. Well getting the stupid keg hadn't been to hard but still. And then there was the Wizzrobe.

"Stupid thing couldn't stand still," Link grumbled as he climbed up another ledge.

Not that the magic user mattered in the long run. Link stepped on a button and played the Elegy of Emptiness. A statue appeared where he had stood as he stepped away.

The boss in Ikana Castle had been the King and his two bodyguards. Apparently skeletons didn't like sunlight.

He climbed up another ledge.

After he had defeated the boss the guy had taught him the Elegy and at least that was useful. _'Really most of the songs are only used once or twice and that's it. This one it seems like I'll actually use,' _he breathed out. He'd finally made it to the top. Turning, he was standing face to face with one creepy looking temple entrance.

Now when Harry had told him about this place he had been certain that the raven had been kidding with him. He was currently wishing that the raven had been joking. "Do I have to enter that place?" he whined.

He had already cleared one temple like structure in this place why was there two? He sighed. "O.K. Link you better pull yourself together."

Three times he played the Elegy of Emptiness and every time he left a statue behind. He shuddered. The statue of his Kokiri form was really creepy unlike the Goron and Zora which merely looked like the people he had played the Song of Healing for to gain the masks. Looking back at the statues holding his path in place, he took a deep breath before turning and heading into the Stone Tower Temple.

The inside of the temple was strangely upbeat especially after the path he had to take to get there. He killed the dragonflies and the bombchu running around. There were several unlocked doors in that first room but for several of them it seemed like he'd have to walk in the ceiling_. 'Now how am I supposed to get up there,'_ Link was standing with his head tilted to the side. He was trying to see the room from a ceiling point of view.

Deciding that he'd figure it out eventually he went right. A gigantic sun-block stood in his way. _'Light arrows. Definitely light arrows,'_ he thought as he opened the door again. The opposite room held a set of buttons which all needed to be pressed for him to proceed.

The blond was grumbling as he made his way through the temple. At least Tatl had stopped annoying him. He had gotten really angry with the silly fairy a couple of temples ago. She just wouldn't shut up. It had driven him crazy.

From Kokiri to Goron to Zora it seemed like this temple needed the use of all the previous temples. Link had even seen Deku flowers around which meant that it was just a matter of time before he needed that as well.

…

It was dark and dreary … this room. Link placed his hand against a pillar. He could see the middle pillar reflected in the mirror before him. What was he supposed to do in here? He let his hand fall from the cold stone. Pulling his green floppy-hat off he walked forward. He looked into one of the mirrors. His reflection was looking back at him. Sighing he turned and started heading back to the pillar. _'Maybe the Goron can get rid of this,' _he thought. Donning the Goron mask Link punched the sections of the pillar aside. Light flooded the room from a small opening in the ceiling. It was blinding to the blond who had just gotten used to the darkness.

He raised his shield to one of the mirrors. It charged up and Link was soon running forward…

"Argh… damn boe!" he cursed as he was interrupted by a small black fuzzy ball. He cut the creature in half but he knew it would be back. Boes didn't die they just returned to the darkness, if they were black or light if they were white, and reformed. Once back in the light he raised his shield again. He would be ready for the boe this time.

Slashing the boe Link rushed forward and reflected the light of his shield. The sun-block before him crumbled. He turned. The second block would be harder to vanish.

After several failed attempts mostly due to the two boes in the room Link was starting to get pissed-off. He charged the first mirror again slashing through the boe. His anger was making the blade of his sword glow, however, and as he cut the monster he sent off a power wave at the second boe.

Link breathed out trying to calm himself. It wouldn't do to go through the temple irritated. He gave the room a last look over before turning to the door…

"Wait that was Harry," Link rushed back into the room. In one of the mirrors stood the green-eyed raven. He reached out. His palm met with cool glass. "Harry," he whispered. The boy in the mirror smirked then he turned and started walking down a corridor.

Looking back at Link, the raven motioned for the blond to follow.

"How Harry the mirror is in the way," Link's voice was barely noticeable. It didn't stop the raven from rolling his eyes though. The boy motioned for Link to follow once more.

Link bit his lip. There was only one thing he could think off that would work. He drew his sword and slashed it through the glass sending pieces flying in all directions. Harry was gone but a path had opened before him. _'How?'_ he wondered as he stepped into the corridor.

* * *

><p>"To think I could be defeated… Although my rival, you were spectacular. I shall take my bow by opening my heart and revealing my wisdom…"<p>

Link was standing face to face with a Garo dressed in purple robes. The Garo had been a challenge to fight and Link was surprised at how he was acting now that he was defeated.

"If you shoot that which releases the sacred light into the blood-stained, red emblem outside the temple it shall rearrange things, in which the earth is born in the heavens and the moon is born on the earth. Do not forget these words…" the Garo Master finished explaining.

Link sheathed his sword. He was thinking back. There had been a red gem. He had jumped past it when he entered the temple.

"Die I shall, leaving no corpse," the Garo had lit the fuse of a bomb. "That is the law of us Garo." The bomb exploded.

Link shook his head. _'Like any enemy I meet leaves a corpse except for the bosses,_' he thought amused.

The path Harry had led him down took him to a room the raven had once described to him. It was the room in which the raven and his Master had found a scroll, a scroll that supposedly was going to help them get to England. Link now carried that scroll with him. He hoped that Salazar would be able to help him, he really did.

Link opened the chest that had appeared in the room. He pulled out a bow-charm meant to give him light arrows.

…

"Oh Farore save me!" Link begged. He had shot the emblem and it had not turned the temple around as he had thought. No it had sent him falling down into the sky. He had changed gravity the temple hadn't switched or moved or something. He looked down. He took a deep breath. He would be so happy when this was over. He jumped out on the first block thinking that right now he really didn't want to know how the big stones could stay mid-air. At least there was some sort of floor to walk on in the temple.

Through rooms and back again.

There was a point were Link had no clue where to go. That was until he remembered an upside-down door from his first trip through the temple. And sure enough there was a chest he had to hookshot to. An eyegore had given him some trouble. He'd been hit by the laser several times before he managed to kill it. Sitting in the next room he was slowly pouring a red potion into the wound. It wasn't as good as the ones Harry had with him during their trip through Hyrule but it was better than nothing.

It would be the morning of the third day soon. Link sighed as the potion started taking effect. At least the room he was in was an enclosed space. He had almost stopped this altogether a few times in there. With the way the sky acted as ground or not in many of the rooms. He could see the boss door just across the room. _'Might as well deal with that immediately,_' he groaned before standing back up.

He walked into the boss room. It was the same room he had met the Garo Master in. He looked at the strange magic in the bottom of the pit in front of him. He took a deep breath. This wasn't the first time he had to jump into the unknown in order to fight a boss. _'Doesn't mean I have to like it though,'_ he thought. Then he closed his eyes and jumped.

* * *

><p>That was the four giants gathered then. Now he just needed to get back to Clock Town and stop the moon from falling. As the lands of Ikana healed Link withdrew his ocarina. Playing the Song of Soaring, he travelled to the bird-statue by the Clock Tower. He now had several hours before the door would open and he could ascend the Clock Tower. Some sleep was definitely in order. It would be much better if he met the Majora well rested.<p>

He yawned.

…

Hours later it was dark and the ground was shaking like crazy as Link climbed up to the platform before the clock face of Clock Tower. He sat up there dangling his legs and waiting. Mutoh was stranding by the structure his carpenters had been building. Link ran his fingers over Harry's sai. He was breathing slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves.

Then the clock struck midnight. The fireworks started lighting the sky up in big flowers of green and yellow and red. It was beautiful to watch but Link didn't have the time. He needed to call the giants and stop the moon. He had a feeling of déjà vu as he stood atop the tower. He had listened to this conversation before. He played the Oath to Order. The giants could be heard calling in the distance. They rose from the land of Termina.

One from the Swamp.

One from the Mountains.

One from the Sea.

One from the Canyon. They gathered and with their strength they stopped the moon just above the blonde's head.

Tatl flew of in joy. She joined with her brother and they seemed so happy. Link, however, knew that it wasn't over they weren't done yet. As the fairies spoke to each other the blond placed a hand on Harry's violin. _'Give me strength … my love,'_ he begged. A lone tear fell down his cheek.

Then a voice could be heard that was not the giants or the fairies "Certainly, he had far too many weaknesses to use my power," it said. Link looked up. Majora's Mask was rising from the ground the Skull Kid merely hanging from it like a wet sock. "A puppet that can no longer be of use is garbage," the mask shook the imp off. "This puppet's role has just ended."

Link relaxed his tense muscles as Tael said, "It can't be! Then that moon?"

A beam of light came down from the mouth of the moon and the mask said, "I shall consume … Consume … Consume everything…" before the beam pulled him up.

"Waahhhhh! This isn't good! Let's go back! Let's go back! Hurry! The Song of Time! The Song of Time!" Tatl screamed at Link but the blond ignored her. He rushed forward into the beam and followed the mask. He ended up on a vast grass field. The sky was clear and blue. He could hear the birds chirping. The only thing for what seemed like miles was a giant tree. The blond quickly made his way over his senses on high alert. There were four children running around the tree playing. Link walked up to one of them. "Hey excuse me!" he called.

The kid turned. "Ahhh… Nice weather … Isn't it?" he asked.

Link shrugged since he had no clue what the weather was usually like. Who knew maybe this was horrible in comparison.

"Masks," the kid said. "You have…a lot. You, too…Will you be…a mask salesman?"

Link blinked "Wha…?"

"Then I will play with you," the kid said. "So…The masks…Give me some…" he demanded.

Link blinked again. _'What the hell is going on?'_ he wondered. But since he reasoned that he wouldn't need any of the masks he had later, he had no problems with handing a few over.

"Thanks… You…You're nice person… Aren't you? Hide-and-seek…Let's play. All right…I'll…hide…"

The world shifted and Link stood in a dungeon with long ramps going in all kinds of directions. He groaned. Rolling with the Goron was not something he liked. After nearly falling off several times, Link finally made it into a small rather strange and colourful room.

"…You found me… Hey… I want…more…masks…"

_'__This kid really is demanding,'_ Link thought as he handed some more masks over.

"Heh, heh…Thanks… You're nice," the kid said. "Umm…" his voice was uncertain, "can I ask…a question?"

"Yeah sure," Link responded. He shifted his weight and tilted his head.

"You… What makes you happy?" the kid asked. "I wonder...what makes you happy...does it make...others happy, too?"

Link blinked. He wasn't allowed to answer the strange question, however. He found himself back on the field. Contemplating an answer for the child as he went up the slight hill the tree stood on, he soon came to realise that the child was gone. Others were there, though, so he repeated the process with them. Every time he found the child he would ask the blond a strange question like:

"The right thing...what is it? I wonder...if you do the right thing...does it really make...everybody...happy?"

It was a question that actually held some merit. Link thought about it for a moment. _'No you can't make everybody happy even when you do the right thing. Not everyone thinks of the same things as the right thing. It is always a matter of opinion,' _he decided.

The other questions didn't really interest him all that much. He had better things to do. There was only one child left now. He was sitting against the trunk of the tree, his arms crossed over his knees.

"…Everyone has gone away, haven't they?" he said sadly. "Will you play…with me?" the kid looked up at Link. He was wearing Majora's Mask.

"Yeah sure," Link shrugged. This game probably meant that he would have to fight the mask.

"You don't have any masks left, do you?" the kid asked him.

"No not really."

"Well let's do something else. Let's play good guys against bad guys… Let's play that."

Link raised an eyebrow as he was handed the Fierce Deity's Mask. He studied it for a moment. There was a lot of power in this mask.

"Are you ready? You're the bad guy. And when you're bad, you just run. That's fine, right?" the kid said enthusiastically.

Link looked at him _'Yeah right,' _he thought. _'Like I'll let you win this. Don't think so.'_

"Well… Shall we play?"

Link nodded and then he was transported to a strange room. The floor was blue and the colour of the walls seemed to be moving. It made his sick to watch really._ 'Stop moving,' _he thought irritably. He took a few steps forward. A light started shining from his pouches. Link looked down the four giant's masks slowly rose out off their bag. They flew up in the air before attaching themselves to the walls around him. The blond looked around _'O.K. and now what?' _he wondered. All walls but one held a mask. He turned to look straight at it. Slowly Majora's Mask appeared, sort of melting through the material of the wall.

It shook and moved off the wall tentacles coming out its back. Link took a step back. He looked down at the mask in his hand then he took a deep breath before putting it on. _'Urgh, that hurt,'_ he thought as he tried to blink the dizziness away. He was much taller now. The sword he held was heavy and would require for him to use both hands. He sighed. He really preferred one handed swords. He watched the mask come closer and then…

Slash, a direct hit.

The masks around the walls started moving but Link paid them no mind. Majora had started spinning and he ran up against a wall and used it to flip over the monster. He avoided one of the orbs sent by the other masks and slashed at Majora again.

And again

Link was smirking. _'Damn this body is good,'_ he thought. He didn't notice the magic in the mask latching on to him. He barely realised that his movements changed slightly and his mid was getting fuzzy. He was too concentrated on the fight.

Slashing at the mask once more it looked like it was burning red. It shook and twitched before legs and arms grew out replacing the tentacles.

The now legged mask ran out off the way of his next attack. It ran back and forth spinning and jumping annoyingly. Link narrowed his eyes and then he tripped the stupid thing. It landed flat on its… eh… face? And Link stabbed his sword down through the mask. He twisted the blade before turning and sending off spheres of light at the masks surrounding him. They were soon burning to ash at his feet.

As he worked on the other masks Majora had stood back up. The room pulsed green and the mask's body changed once more. It was more muscled now and in its hands were whip like tentacles. Link stepped out off the way as one of the tentacles came flying. Then Fierce Deity moved forward ignoring the pain that flared in the boy's side as a whip hit him. He raised his sword and cut at Majora.

Link shook his head before dodging a whip and bolting forward. He spun around to the masks back and slashed it open.

Fierce Deity took control once more. This puppet was difficult to command. He moved his sword just in time to catch one of the whips. Fierce Deity snorted then he ripped the tentacle clear off. Raising his sword he could feel his control slip once more.

Link tightened his hold on the hilt before continuing the motion that Fierce Deity started. He struggled over the control of his body. It was getting harder and harder. He managed to slash the mask a last time. Then his mind gave up the pressure was too great.

Around him the room started crumbling. "Finally," Fierce Deity said, "a working body once more. Now the world shall know my anger…"

A light had started shining. It came from something Link had carried with him so Fierce Deity could not touch it. "What is this nonsense," he hissed "I am stronger than this puny lit…"

He didn't get further.

The light had surrounded him.

.

.

Outside the moon was transported back to its rightful place by a rainbow coloured beam.

* * *

><p>Link woke up slowly. His head was pounding. The last thing he remembered was the death of Majora's Mask.<p>

"Aah! He's awake!" he heard Tatl's voice. He slowly sat up grabbing his pounding head in the process. _'Oh, Nayru what happened to me,'_ he groaned. He realised that the mask he had been wearing while fighting the Majora was gone. He no longer had it with him. _'It is probably for the best'_ he thought looking around not remembering that the mask had tried to take control of him. Epona was there and Tatl together with her brother Tael. A few feet away stood the Skull Kid. He was looking up. Link followed his gaze.

The four giants were still there watching them.

"You guys…" the Skull Kid said. "You hadn't forgotten about me?"

One of the giants answered him but Link couldn't understand; he didn't speak giant after all.

"You still thought of me as a friend?" the Skull Kid asked. He was shaking now but Link couldn't tell if the imp was crying.

The two fairies flew over to the imp and tried to comfort him as the giants returned to their resting places. The poor thing was definitely crying now.

Link felt a bit sorry for him. The blond after all knew what it felt like to lose your friends.

As the sound of the giants' steps faded the Skull Kid turned to Link. "Did you…" he sniffed "Did you save me?"

Link shrugged "I guess," he answered.

"I thought they didn't want to be friends with me," the imp looked off in the distance. "But… They hadn't forgotten about me… Friends are nice things to have… Heh, heh."

"Yeah friends are nice things to have," Link's thoughts travelled to his memories of Harry. "Really nice things."

The Skull Kid turned to him. "Could you be my friend, too?" he asked. Then he walked up to the blond. "Eh-hee-hee… You have the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods…" he said laughing.

"Yeah I can remember that," Link said and he did. It had been on the day that he and Harry had returned to the forest from Goron City. Link had disappeared off to gather some fruit. He had met the Skull Kid and taught him Saria's Song in the Lost Woods.

"I know, I know! Let's do something!" the Skull Kid said enthusiastically. Link smiled at him.

Then suddenly out off nowhere the mask salesman showed up. "Oh...So the evil has left the mask after all... Well, now...I finally have it back," The man said. He turned to Link and bowed. "Since I am in the midst of my travels…I must bid you farewell," the man said and walked past them. Next to the blond the Skull Kid was trembling whether it was in fear or shame Link did not know.

"Shouldn't you be returning home as well?" the ever happy man asked Link. "Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever… Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time… That is up to you," the mask salesman bowed again. "With that, please excuse me…" he started walking again.

Link rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was still kinda tired, a nap would be nice. But the mask salesman wasn't quite done talking yet. It was almost like his steps kept rattling his brain reminding him of things he wished to tell. "…But, my, you sure have managed to make quite a number of people happy. The masks you have are filled with happiness. This is truly good happiness." After that the man simply faded out off existence altogether.

Link turned to the Skull Kid and his flying friends. He gave Tatl a half-hearted glare. "I guess this is good-bye then," he said. He walked over to Epona and patted the horse's muzzle. He mounted his horse and rode off. The fireworks where going off in the town behind him.

.

.

"Thank you…" Tatl's voice was faint.

.

.

Link sighed. "Well I guess I saved the world again."

.

.

.

.


	23. Slithering Friend

**Slithering Friend**

No letters – not that he really cared – but still. One would think that a clever girl like Hermione would have sent a letter by regular post by now. Provided that she had sent any at all that was.

Harry had of course returned to the Dursleys' for the summer. It seemed like Dumbledore had convinced McGonagall that it was the best place for him. It didn't really matter all that much since he spent most of the summer with the Winters anyway. They would be leaving for a weeklong trip in a few days. The raven was really looking forward to it.

He was glad he'd be leaving. The Dursleys' would be having company over on the eve of the day they were heading out, and Harry was not sorry to miss it. I was a sort of birthday gift… this trip. He was almost too excited to sleep tossing and turning for hours.

* * *

><p>"Harry!" Emelle jumped into his arms. Harry laughed at her enthusiasm. She was so sweet. She dragged him over to the car and he helped her back into her seat. He walked around the car and sat down in the front seat. "Good morning Nathaniel," he said.<p>

"Good morning Harry," Nathaniel shifted gears. "Excited?" he asked.

"Yeah trips with you guys are always something special," Harry smiled at the two kids in the backseat. They smiled back at him brightly. His eyes widened "You've lost a tooth Erenigh."

"Yeah I did yeshterday," the boy seemed very proud about it.

"That's great," Harry said and the boy nodded vigorously.

They drove … for hours and hours.

The kids in the backseat fell asleep eventually. After which Harry and Nathaniel spoke in length about the raven's first year at Hogwarts. Nathaniel wasn't happy with the amount of danger Harry had been in, and Harry was just glad that there was a grown-up out there that truly cared about his safety.

They stayed at an Inn that night. Erenigh had promptly climbed into the bed that Harry was lying in and made himself comfortable. "G'night," he said and closed his eyes. Harry just chuckled softly. He wrapped an arm around the boy and lay down.

Sleep came quickly that night.

"Wake up!"

Something heavy landed on his chest. Harry opened his eyes. His vision was red. A deep cherry-red. "Good morning Emelle," he said groggily as he sat up. He grabbed her so she wouldn't fall to the floor. His grip on the girl tightened as he stood up and pulled her with him.

The bathroom door opened and Nathaniel stepped out. "There you are Emelle get into the bath with you," he said.

Harry smirked at the man. He shifted the girl and then he carried her into the bathroom. As he passed her father he pulled her nightgown of so Harry could just drop her in the tub.

Splash!

That hadn't been one of the best ideas Harry ever had. Dropping the girl into the tub triggered a water fight of humungous proportions. Nothing was dry by the time Nathaniel told them that they needed to finish up. Harry sent the kids out off the bathroom to dry up. He sighed, closed his eyes and willed the water away. Since he didn't use a wand he doubted anyone would notice. He'd realised that the Ministry trace was attached to the wand. So, he was very glad that his Master Salazar was teaching him wandless magic. Once the water was gone he took a quick shower to actually get clean himself.

Nathaniel looked at him with a tragic expression as he came out off the room. "Please tell me the room isn't overflowing," he said.

"Don't worry I dealt with it," Harry said reassuringly. The redhead looked relieved to hear that. The raven got dressed and they headed out to eat some breakfast.

It was interesting how people acted around them really. Most people thought Harry was a part of the Winters family for real with his green eyes to match Emelle's and his black hair which looked like Erenigh's in most lights. Of course Nathaniel was a bit too young to be his father but people didn't notice that.

It did make things easier. People didn't stop them to ask annoying questions about Harry's parents and consent and stuff like that.

…

"Can I have ice-cream daddy, please," Emelle was looking at her father with puppy-dog eyes.

"Yesh pleashe daddy can we," Erenigh joined his sister.

Harry bit his lip. He wondered what would happen if he joined in.

Nathaniel caught his gaze. The man could see the longing look on the raven's face. He smiled down at his children "After lunch you can have ice-cream," he told them.

"Ohh, daddyyy whyyy," Emelle whined.

He raised an eyebrow. "Emelle," he said sternly.

"Sorry," she said. She walked up to Harry and took his hand dejectedly. Harry grabbed a hold of her waist and he spun her up in the air. She giggled madly her long red hair fanning out behind her. He dropped her back down as Nathaniel passed them. They were attending a fair and they'd been walking from stall to stall. Emelle had gotten a really pretty bracelet made with stone beads and leather. She had insisted that Harry needed one as well. So a dark blue, green and pink bracelet was currently adorning his left wrist. Nathaniel had told him that he'd promised the kids that they could pick his birthday presents while they were here. Harry had snorted and shook his head. If the bracelet was a birthday gift it wasn't like he could turn that down now could he?

Ice-cream was eaten eventually and they were going to leave soon. Erenigh hadn't found anything he wanted to give Harry so he was a bit depressed.

"It's O.K. you know Erenigh. It isn't your fault that they didn't have anything that would suit me," Harry said trying to cheer the boy up. Erenigh did look a bit happier after that. Then his father pulled him aside and when he got back he was smiling. He grabbed Harry's hand and started dragging him towards a tent.

They stepped inside. It was a piercing studio.

Harry looked around.

"Would you like one Harry?" Erenigh asked hopefully.

The raven nodded slowly "Yeah." He walked deeper into the tent looking at the jewellery. There were skulls and simple studs in different colours. There were rings and crosses. Then Harry saw it. There was a snake with cyan stones for eyes. Harry wanted that one. It looked like the snake would have to pass through his ear twice but he didn't care. Zant was lying around his neck fully visible to the people around them. He didn't move all that much, though, so no one had realised he was alive yet.

"W'at da ya want kiddo," a girl had showed up. She had black hair with neon highlights and more piercings than Harry cared to count.

"That one," he said and pointed at the snake.

She blinked. "Hey Joe ya got a job!" she called. A man entered the tent from the back. He matched the girl rather well with his blue and green hair and tattoos. "Which one?" he asked.

"Tha snake one," she told him. He raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a bit young, kid," he looked at Harry.

"I'm twelve is that to young," Harry met the man's gaze.

The guy chuckled. "I guess not," he said. "Ye should sit down which ear do you want it in?"

"The left one," Harry told him. The guy cleaned his hands and took a needle out. He made two marks on the lobe of Harry's ear then he pushed the needle through.

**_"_****_Master the two-legs is hurting you," _**Zant hissed suddenly. He had lifted his head up and the guy piercing Harry's ear froze in fear. Harry reached up slowly; he grabbed the protective serpent and pulled him down into his lap.

"It's a live snake?" he asked.

"Yeah Zant is alive and he's angry so you should probably hurry up," the raven said calmly. He felt the needle pass through his ear once more and then the snake was fitted in. The guy brought out a wand and healed the wounds.

"Wizard?" the raven said amused. The guy nodded and Harry snorted. "You shouldn't point a wand at someone without warning it could cost you your life," he stood up and inspected the snake earring. It looked really good.

"You said you're twelve it's not like you can do that much damage," the guy snorted.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I have a lethal serpent with me and you think I can't do any damage," he said.

"Now, now Harry we don't threaten people do we," Nathaniel said from the tent flap.

"No dad I know but he should have known better than to just point a wand at me," Harry said.

Nathaniel's eyes narrowed. "How much does it cost?" he asked wanting to get out off there as soon as possible. He did not enjoy people threatening his children – which he now counted Harry as– and a wand in his mind was the same as a gun.

The guy gave him a number and the redhead paid before dragging Harry out off the tent. "Dad?" he said amused.

"Yeah well I thought it would make more of an impact on him if I said that," Harry tried to explain his choice of words. Nathaniel smiled at him running a hand though the raven's hair messing it up completely.

"It matches Zant!" Emelle exclaimed as she dragged Harry's hair out off the way of the earring.

"Yeah it does. I really like it," the raven smiled shot Erenigh a smile. The boy was beaming. He'd gotten big brother a gift. He was so happy Harry liked it.

They would be camping by the sea for a couple of days or so. It reminded Harry of the trip they had made to the forest almost two years prior. Just like that trip this one felt almost like being back in Kokiri Forest. They had so much fun fishing and playing that they decided to stay longer than they'd first agreed on. Hedwig had joined them on the second day and she played with them as well. Harry had sent her off to the Winters before he'd made it back to London. He'd know they would take better care of her then he was going to be allowed by the Dursleys'.

"Hey girl, are you having fun?" Harry was petting her one evening. She hooted in response and he laughed. "We're going back to Hogwarts soon…I wonder if they really have just forgotten me or if there is something wrong," he said. His Hogwarts letter had arrived a couple of days ago, and Nathaniel would drop him off at the Leaky Cauldron when they returned so he could by his school stuff.

…

Diagon Alley was crowded for some reason when Harry arrived. He pulled his hood down further over his face not particularly feeling like being recognised. The trip through Gringotts had been easy since he'd received his key from Hagrid last year. Now he just needed to by his supplies. He would have to wait with the book store since there was some kind of book signing going on right now and he didn't want to deal with that.

New ingredients, better knives, and unbreakable vials were purchased at the apothecary. Then he bought new quills, ink and more rolls of parchment. His robes would fit him this year too but he needed new shoes.

By the time he'd made it over to Flourish and Blotts the crowd had thinned out. There were still some excited witches around talking about some guy named Lockhart. Harry shook his head. He looked down at his book-list apart from _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 _all the books on his booklist were written by Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry picked up the spells book and then he walked over to Lockhart's books. He opened one and sped-read through the first chapter. It was rubbish. _'Do I have to buy this junk,' _he wondered. Deciding that he didn't, he walked over to the defence section and studied the titles. He picked out a couple of promising books before he checked the other sections. _'I need a new Runes book,'_ he thought as he walked over.

When he was done he had an impressive pile of books. He paid for them and left the store looking down at his watch. Nathaniel would pick him up in half-an-hour.

* * *

><p>The ride to Hogwarts had been quiet. Harry had picked a compartment at the back of the train. There had been some sort of problem with the portal at King's Cross but he had simply shadowed through it. He was getting better at doing that without it showing. In the beginning a big cloud of what looked like smoke had appeared every time he did it but now there was barely a wisp.<p>

He'd been reading his course books mainly the one on Runes even though he knew that they wouldn't be allowed to take the subject until next year. He wondered if he should just pick other subjects Master Salazar taught him Runes after all.

After the train arrived at Hogsmeade station Harry walked with the rest of the students up to the carriages that would take them up to the castle. He froze as he saw the carriages there were horses pulling them. They were big, black and skeleton like with reptilian faces and completely white eyes. Their wings, pulled tightly to their sides, looked like gigantic bat wings. After he'd gotten over the initial shock of seeing horses looking like that Harry was fascinated. What were they? How come he seemed to be the only one who reacted to them? They were beautiful in a sort of morbid way.

Harry stepped into a black carriage and sat down. A few seconds later he was followed by a boy a couple of years older than him. He had dark brown hair and bright grey almost silver eyes. He did a double take as he noticed the raven. "Hey," he said lamely.

"Good evening," Harry responded with a smirk. It was rather fun to startle people. It was quiet for a while as the coach started moving. Then the brunet seemed to gather himself together.

"My name is Cedric," he said.

"It's nice to meet you Cedric I'm Harry," Harry replied.

Cedric was a Hufflepuff student. The rim of his robes was yellow. He relaxed slowly. "What year are you starting," he asked trying to make conversation.

"My second…and you?"

"My fourth…what do you think of it so far?"

"School you mean?... I guess its O.K. I would've been better if there wasn't a maniac out to kill me last year but hey…" Harry rolled his eyes.

Cedric's eyes widened "Someone tried to kill you last year?" he asked shocked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, twice," he answered casually.

Cedric didn't seem to be able to process the information at first but then. "Wait you said Harry as in Potter?" he asked.

"Yeah as in Potter," Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Sorry I was just surprised... I didn't mean to… you got problem enough without people adding to it," Cedric tried to fix things. He knew he'd insulted the raven somehow but he wasn't sure how to fix it.

Harry just smiled at him. "It's O.K. don't worry about it… Have you read any of Lockhart's books yet?" he asked interested in an older students opinion of the books.

"Yeah I have," Cedric leaned back, "bunch of hogwash if you ask me."

Harry laughed. "Yeah I didn't even buy them," he said.

The strange horses stopped, and they stepped out off the carriage. Walking up to the castle they continued talking about Lockhart's books and how they were pure garbage.

Harry reunited with his friend at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione immediately inquired as to why he hadn't responded to their letters, and Harry informed them that he hadn't received any post and then he'd told them that he hadn't had access to his own owl. It was a lie but they didn't need to know about the Winters. He didn't ask questions about their families so they didn't need to know about the people he considered family. They discussed his post-problem for the rest of the meal but couldn't come up with any good reason for why he hadn't received anything. So eventually the subject was dropped.

* * *

><p>On the first day of term they had THE Gilderoy Lockhart for their first lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry had sat through that lesson thinking that his initial impression of the man had been correct. The man was a fraud. He was more interested in how he looked than any actual teaching.<p>

So, a few lessons later had Harry deciding to take his Defence learning into his own hands.

He met Cedric in the library two weeks into term. The teen was sitting by a table studying a Rune's chart and scratching his head. Harry slowly made his way over to the table. He looked down at the chart and smiled. "You have written berkana instead of wunjo there…and there," he said and pointed at the chart.

The brunet blinked and looked at the runes. "Damn it," he swore and fixed his mistakes. "Thanks for pointing it out…" he had looked up, "Harry?"

The raven smirked at him "Yeah what is it – surprised?" he said with mirth in his voice.

"Yeah, a bit you shouldn't even have started with Runes yet. How did you know…" Cedric trailed off.

"I've been self-studying the subject," Harry said and brought a Runes book out.

Cedric read the title. He was impressed they hadn't started with that yet it was OWL level stuff. "You've read that one?" he asked and Harry nodded. "Can you help me with this it makes absolutely no sense to me?" the brunet asked.

Harry tilted his head. "Yeah sure if you help me with Defence," Cedric looked like he was going to be ill "not the stuff Lockhart is teaching I mean the things you learnt when you were my age," Harry rolled his eyes.

Cedric breathed out. "Yeah sure I can do that."

It was the start of a new friendship and Harry was glad for it. You shouldn't limit yourself to only a few people really. Even back in Kokiri Forest he had more friends than just Link even though Link was his best friend.

…

There were however people Harry had no wish to include in his friend circle.

… like Colin for example. The kid needed to learn what private space meant. The boy was constantly bugging him and it drove the raven mad. Not that he let that show. No he knew better.

… and Draco Malfoy who had made seeker for Slytherin that year. _'Poor snakes,'_ Harry thought as the blond strutted around. The kid wouldn't be so bad if he'd just stop being such a papa's boy. It was 'My father,' this and 'Wait until my father hears about this,' – sad really.

* * *

><p>One day a strange hissing noise could be heard in the school. Harry was confused because it seemed like no one but him could hear it. Until he had to face-palm himself, <em>'Of course no one else can hear it. It's Parselmouth after all.' <em>So a giant snake was moving around Hogwarts. He blinked _'Salmissra – why is the castle guardian awake?'_ he wondered. Salazar had told him about the basilisk guardian he'd left in his old home. Harry had to assume he meant here. "But Salmissra is only supposed to be awake if she's been awoken to protect the castle," he murmured. He would have to ask Zant to check things out later.

…

At Halloween Filch's cat Mrs Norris was petrified. And sometime later Colin Creevey ended up in the Hospital Wing frozen solid. Harry had been there nursing an arm in which the bones needed to be re-grown after Lockhart had vanished them. _'Idiot Professor should be…'_ a grin spread out over the raven's face. _'Oh, this will be fun,'_ he thought

Of course Ron had wanted to blame the attacks on Malfoy after the cat had been attacked but Harry put his foot down. Malfoy was not the Heir of Slytherin thank you very much.

He really needed to find a way down into the Chamber, though, so he could stop the attacks.

…

One cold and bright December day there was a notice attached to the noticeboard in the Entrance Hall. A Duelling Club would be starting. The first meeting was that very evening. Harry hoped that Lockhart wouldn't be teaching it. The man hadn't done a very good job so far and the raven doubted he could actually duel not that Hermione would listen on that ear. She was just as crazy about the fraud as most girls.

_'__One would think that she'd at least be able to see the utter bullocks in his books but no … pretty face wins over intelligence,'_ Harry thought one day as he walked with his friends from class. Of course Lockhart hadn't been all that pretty lately. Over the past two weeks his hair had been changed colour from mouse brown to march green and one day it had been vomit yellow – Not very attractive colours. No one knew who was doing it and the resident pranksters Fred and George Weasley really wanted to find whoever it was not to mention the staff.

That evening Harry's fears were confirmed when Lockhart walked up on the duelling platform they had gathered by, dressed in deep plum robes. The raven wondered if he could just leave thank you very much but Hermione wouldn't let him so he closed his eyes and tuned the man's inane blabbing out until…

Professor Snape was standing before him. Harry blinked. _'Where did he come from?'_ he wondered.

"Potter you'll partner up with Mr Malfoy," Snape ordered. Harry walked over to the blond. He wondered what they were supposed to do. _'Maybe not listening to the peacock wasn't the best of ideas,' _he thought as he watched Malfoy.

"Face your partner!" Lockhart called, "and bow!"

Harry was still wondering what was going on and felt no need what so ever to bow to Malfoy of all people.

"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart shouted. The raven looked up at the man – Was he serious? "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent, only to disarm them, we don't want any accidents." Apparently the man was serious. "One … two … three…"

Harry sidestepped the spell Malfoy had shot. He still hadn't taken his wand out. He just avoided the spells that Malfoy kept sending at him waiting for the blond to tire. Around them students were shooting spells back and forth. It was a mess. _'Master Kenteishu would never stand for this,' _Harry thought as he avoided another spell. Malfoy was getting really frustrated with him. Harry wondered if he should do something about that when Lockhart spoke once more. "Dear, dear." Harry looked over at the man. As he did so he could see the total chaos that had broken out around them.

Lockhart was walking down amongst them giving advice as he went. Then he stopped. "I think I better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," he said flustered. He glanced over at Professor Snape, whose black eyes glinted. "Let's have a volunteer pair Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"

"A bad idea Professor Lockhart," Snape said as he came gliding over. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Poor Neville's round face went pink. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape said.

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart exclaimed, gesturing Harry and Malfoy up on the platform. "Now, Harry," said Lockhart, "when Draco points his wand at you, you do this." He raised his wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action and dropped it. Harry looked at the man, an eyebrow raised. He was having a hard time not laughing at the fraud's incompetence. He looked over to the other side of the podium where Snape and Malfoy stood; they were smirking.

"Whoops…my wand is a little overexcited."

Snape bent down and whispered something in Malfoy's ear. The blond nodded his smirk widening.

Harry rolled his eyes and walked forward. "Let's start this shall we," he said with confidence.

Snape gave him a strange look before counting down, "Three … two … one."

Malfoy raised his wand quickly cried, "Serpensortia." The end of his wand exploded and a long black snake shot out off it falling heavily to the floor between them.

Harry sighed. He raised his wand "Expelliarmus," he said softly and a beam of scarlet light shot out off his wand and hit Malfoy square in the chest. Then he walked forward carefully. He moved around the serpent and quickly dashed forward picking it up by the back of its head. He moved up to Malfoy snake in hand. "You really didn't think this through very well Malfoy. This snake is poisonous. It could kill people," he said angrily.

Everyone was staring at him. He seemed to be the only one – well O.K. Snape too – that wasn't afraid of the snake.

"What do you think you're doing Potter," the Potions Professor asked.

Harry looked up at the man. "I'm making a point Professor. Don't endanger the students unnecessarily," he turned "Move to the sides please I don't want you to get hurt," he said as he started walking towards the exit. The students parted terrified of the snake he was holding.

**_"_****_Please calm down," _**Harry hissed as soon as he was out off earshot. The serpent stilled. He let go off its head.

**_"_****_Why did you bring me here speaker?" _**the serpent hissed.

Harry slowed down and ducked into an alcove. **_"I did not bring you here the pale two-legs did that," _**he explained.

The serpent watched him for a moment. **_"I want to go home," _**it hissed.

Harry closed his eyes how was he supposed to manage that. He could hear voices coming up the corridor. As they came closer the raven recognised one of them. _'Cedric.'_ He moved out off the darkness. "Cedric!" he called out.

The brunet turned. "Harry what are you doing here?" he asked surprised.

Harry explained everything. Well almost everything. He didn't mention his conversation with the snake.

Cedric looked at him and sighed. _'Why me?'_ he thought. He turned to his friend "You think…" They mumbled back and forth for a while. Then Cedric looked back at the raven. "Come on I think I know someone who can help you," he said.

They headed to a winding staircase. It led up to the Ravenclaw common room. Cedric answered the riddle and they entered. The brunet stalked over to a table. He exchanged a few words with a sandy-haired guy before waving Harry over. A moment later the serpent was gone.

"Thank you," Harry smiled at them.

* * *

><p>Some people seemed to think that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin after the incident with the serpent. The raven just rolled his eyes at them. Didn't they have something better to do?<p>

He was a bit annoyed though. He still hadn't found a way into the Chamber. And Justin Finch-Fletchley had been attacked now as well. Now he truly appreciated being friends with Cedric the brunet had gotten the entire Hufflepuff and almost all of Ravenclaw house to keep from harassing him.

Nothing really happened until one day when the girls' bathroom on the second floor was flooded. Filch was cursing about it as Harry and Ron came walking down a nearby corridor. They entered Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The ghost was sitting in there crying.

"What's up Myrtle?" Harry asked. The ghost seemed to be hiding down her usual toilet.

"Who's that?" she gurgled miserably. "Come to throw something else at me?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Now why would we throw something at you?" he asked.

"Don't ask me," Myrtle shouted. She emerged from the toilet forcing even more water out on the floor. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me…"

"A book?" Harry looked at her. "That's not very nice."

Myrtle sobbed and Harry started looking around the bathroom. Under a sink a couple of feet away lay a small nondescript and soggy black book. Harry walked forward and picked it up. He froze he recognised this magic. A memory forced its way to the forefront of his mind.

_~Flashback~_

_Salazar walked down the path leading from the area he and his apprentice had chosen for the orchard. He was searching for Harry; the raven had disappeared sometime round noon. _

_He found the boy doing meditation with Sheik and Zelda so at least he hadn't been slaking of. Salazar noticed that his apprentice would twitch almost winch from time to time as he sat there. It was concerning to say the least. _

_"__Urgh, I give up this won't work," Harry exclaimed and stood up. He noticed Salazar and walked over to the older wizard. "My head keeps hurting," he said annoyed. He rubbed his lightningbolt shaped scar. _

_"__The scar is bothering you snakeling?" Salazar asked concerned. _

_Harry nodded "Yes Master it's," he searched for a word to describe it "itching," he finally settled on._

_"__Come here little one." Salazar led him over to some chairs. They sat down and Salazar placed his hands on either side of Harry's head. The raven closed his eyes. His master's magic was soothing on his irritated skin. _

_Salazar soon started cursing in several different languages. He had found foreign magic in his apprentice's scar. It worked almost like a leech sucking magic rather than blood. _

_"__What is wrong Master," Harry sounded afraid. He'd never heard Salazar speak that way. _

_"__There is a magical parasite in your scar Harry… shhh calm Harry," the raven had started shaking he was so scared. "I'll give you a sleeping draught and then I'll remove it O.K." Salazar said. He wrapped his arms around the shivering boy. "Shhhh."_

_He helped the boy to stand and then he walked them down to Harry's hut. Once inside he gave the raven a potion and soon Harry was fast asleep. _

_When he woke up again Salazar was sitting by his bedside. He blinked sleepily while covering a wide yawn. _

_"__How do you feel snakeling?" his Master asked._

_"__Mmm feelin' better… head's lighter," Harry answered. He yawned again. _

_"__That's good," Salazar said softly. _

_It took Harry a little while to wake up completely but once he had he was out off bed almost immediately. He got dressed before walking over to an urn filled with cool clear water. He reached out for it and froze. There was magic there. Bad magic that made the hairs on his arm stand straight up. "Master," he breathed terrified. _

_Arms wrapped around his shoulders. Salazar's magic surrounded him. "That was what was in your scar snakeling," the man told him. Harry shuddered_

_~Flashback ends~_

Harry shuddered.

"Harry, Harry," Ron's voice broke through the memory.

"Yeah Ron what is it?" Harry asked confused.

"Mate you spaced out. I was afraid you'd been cursed or something, books can do that you know," the redhead told him.

"No I'm fine just lost in thoughts," he looked back down at the book; it felt just like the magic Master Salazar had pulled out off his scar. He needed to get this thing away from students. "Let's get out off here before Filch gets back," he said.

Ron agreed whole heartedly so they left quickly saying good-bye to Myrtle on their way out.

That night Harry donned his cloak and wrapped himself up in the shadows. Hermione and Ron would not be coming with him this time. Zant had returned earlier in the evening. The serpent had found an entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. It took almost an hour of dodging teachers and Prefects to get down to the opening.

He travelled deep down under the school before the path turned. The tunnel became damper as he moved onwards. He was guessing the path had led him to somewhere beneath the lake. He walked forward a door was blocking his way. The handle was a carved snake. Harry snorted _'Really Salazar,'_ he thought amused.

**_"_****_Open up," _**he hissed and the door clicked. He pushed it open and walked in. He was standing in a study, Salazar's private study. It was clear-cut and practical just the way Salazar liked it. He smiled. He'd love to explore this place. He sighed, _'but not tonight.'_

"Who art thou?" a voice asked.

Harry turned it was a portrait of Salazar. He was certain walking up to the wall he smirked. **_"Evening blessings to you Master Salazar," _**he hissed.

The man in the portrait narrowed his eyes at the raven. **_"Who are you to speak the tongue of serpents?" _**he asked.

**_"_****_In another world I was the apprentice of Salazar Slytherin," _**Harry hissed amused. This was interesting.

Salazar in the portrait looked deep it thought for a moment. **_"Your words are the truth… at least as you see it. That means that either you speak the truth or you are deluded enough to think that what you say is the truth," _**he watched the raven.

**_"_****_I doubt that really matters right now," _**Harry said and before the portrait could say anything he continued, **_"Salmissra has been set lose on the castle. She has petrified three students born to non-magical parents."_**

**_"_****_What!" _**Salazar was outraged. **_"Who would dare to use her for such a purpose?"_**

Harry shrugged. **_"I don't know but I think this diary is involved somehow," _**he said holding the book up. **_"I need to put it somewhere no one can get to it but me," _**he hissed.

The man in the portrait inclined his head. He pointed at an empty display case next to the frame. **_"Place it in there,"_** he said.

Harry walked forward. He was about to place the book down when he stopped himself. There was magic imbedded in the case. He studied the different threads and then he noticed the runes. He narrowed his eyes **_"This case would stop anyone but one of Slytherin blood to open it," _**Harry hissed. He shook his head and moved away from the portrait He didn't have time for this.

He placed the diary in one of the bookshelves before leaving the room through another door. The room he entered was dark and unlike the study it didn't light up automatically when he entered.

**_"_****_She is here Master," _**Zant hissed softly.

Harry nodded knowing the serpent would feel the movement. **_"Great Lady Salmissra please heed my call," _**he hissed out loud.

The sound of scales moving against each other reached his ears. Then he could feel the basilisk approach. **_"Who art thou little two-legs?" _**she asked.

**_"_****_I'm a student of this school and I was the apprentice of Salazar Slytherin in another realm, another time,"_** Harry responded. **_"You have been hurting students. This is not what Salazar left you here to do Great Lady please cease your attacks upon the student body," _**he pleaded.

**_"_****_Master Salazar gave me a purpose, to keep the school safe. Five times I have done this when Master's children have called. A long time went before another of Master's children came but this child wished harm upon his fellow students. I promised Master to guard the school. My bond to Master passed down his blood line and I have followed the command of his children. You are Master's child directly little one I will do as you ask," _**Salmissra said before she curled up.

**_"_****_Good night Lady Salmissra." _**Harry left the room. He wondered what she meant about him being Salazar's child. He had been the man's apprentice not his son. The raven shook his head. Who knew what the future would bring him from his past.

* * *

><p>Time went by. The students were still afraid. But nothing happened – there were no more attacks. Easter came and they needed to choose which extra subjects they should take the following years. Harry looked at the alternatives. He rubbed his eyes and bit his lip. <em>'What to pick?'<em> he contemplated. In the end he picked Care of Magical Creatures 'cause he liked animals. And Arithmancy 'cause it would be useful in the future. Study of Ancient Runes he didn't need to take since, according to Cedric at least, he could take the OWL in the subject now and pass.

One day rumours were flying that the Minister of Magic was in the castle. Harry wondered what the man could possibly be doing in Hogwarts. With the way the Hogwarts grapevine worked it didn't take long for rumours about that to start circulating however. Most of the rumours were pure hogwash but there was one that worried Harry. One thing he heard was that the Minister was there to arrest Hagrid.

_'__Shit,'_ he thought. He hadn't wanted to show the diary to anyone because of how dangerous it was but it might be the only way to clear Hagrid. He hurried down to Salazar's study and grabbed the book. He looked at it. The thing had to be destroyed. He sat down at the desk and pulled out a quill. He cut a vein open. He would have to use blood for this nothing else would be potent enough and it was the only way to make certain the runes couldn't be removed. He dipped the quill in his own blood and started writing.

_'__That will just have to be good enough,' _he thought an hour later. He'd made sure it couldn't be traced back to him and the diary would now self-destruct in six months' time.

He walked through the shadows up to Dumbledore's office. He'd located the place in the beginning of the year for good measure. It wouldn't do to have the same problem twice. The shadows hid him perfectly as he entered the room. On a perch by the desk sat a beautiful bird with a magnificent red and yellow-gold plumage. Harry carefully walked forward. Neither of the men sitting by the desk noticed anything. Not until out off nowhere a black book with a blood-red note attached to it dropped down amongst the papers on the desk.

Harry didn't stay to see their reactions it was too dangerous. The note would say what they needed to know anyway. He quickly made his way back down to Salazar's study and collapsed. Rune magic was not easy and he was exhausted. If he went back up into the school now someone would notice and he didn't want any kind of suspicion to fall on him. He looked over at one of the bookshelves. _'Can hurt,'_ he thought before summoning one of the books. He'd have to rest for a while and didn't feel like sleeping so a book was a good alternative.

The raven didn't breathe out properly until a few days later when it was obvious that Hagrid was safe. Dumbledore seemed deep in thought every time he was seen sitting at the head table. Harry hoped that it was a good sign.

The rest of the year passed without much excitement. Well, apart from the continued pranking of Professor Lockhart. Harry thought that if he pranked the incompetent buffoon badly enough the man would leave by the end of the year and never come back. Safe to say that the tactic worked.

Harry leaned back in his seat on the Hogwarts express and let out a content sigh.

This year had been kind of nice actually.


	24. To Find a Master

**To Find a Master**

Link was travelling once more. Where he was going he had no clue, but he kept riding anyway. The plain before him stretched for miles. The green grass was lush and soft. From time to time Link would dismount Epona and walk beside her. He ran his hand through the horse's mane. "I hope we'll find him soon girl," he said with a sigh.

Epona snorted in agreement.

There were bombskits running around – their black shells gleaming in the sun. Link smiled softly. The small monsters were kind of entertaining to watch as they ran in short bursts over the grass.

As the sun set, Link could see buildings in the distance. He doubted he would be able to get there before nightfall, though. The nights on the open plain were cold, and he did not look forward to spending yet another one out there.

He shuddered as he pulled blankets out off a saddlebag he had purchased for Epona. The horse lay down on the ground determined to give her rider some of her body heat. "Thanks girl," Link said as he lay down.

The blond was soon fast asleep his breath coming out in small white puffs.

…

The buildings Link had noticed the day before seemed to be a farm. He rode up closer to the main house. The wind was travelling from the forest that morning, and he could feel the familiar scent of a swamp coming from it. He shuddered _'I'm not going in there,'_ he thought determined.

A young girl came walking out off the house. She had long strawberry-blond hair that fell in soft curls down her back. The bucket she was carrying swayed as she spun around to face Link.

The blond looked down into her big blue eyes. "Good morning," he said before dismounting Epona. "Is either of your parents here?"

She started at him for a moment before raising her hand and pointing towards the house.

Link nodded. "Thank you," he said. He turned and walked over to the house. Knocking on the open front door, he could smell freshly baked bread. His stomach rumbled uncomfortably reminding him that he'd had very little to eat that morning.

"What do you want boy?" a gruff voice said from beside him. Link turned he looked up at a man who definitely looked older than he was with white sprinkled through his sandy hair. The work on the farm and harsh sunlight had left many lines and creases on the man's face.

Realising that his staring was bordering on impolite, Link looked the man in the eyes and said, "I am sorry for disturbing you Master Farmer but I am looking for someone and hope you may have information I need to find him."

The man's eyebrows furrowed and he looked Link up and down.

"I am willing to pay for the trouble sir," Link added.

The farmer met his eyes once more. He nodded. "Very well young man what is it you wish to ask?"

They went inside and Link sat down at the table slowly explaining who he was looking for and partly why as well. The little girl had come back inside during their talk and the three of them had eaten breakfast.

"Well," the farmer said. "I know of a man who would fit your description. He's been by here a couple of times. Keeps travelling into that bleeding swamp for some reason. But I have no idea where he comes from…" the man fell silent.

Link watched him think hoping that he would remember something. Simply the direction from which Salazar usually came would be difficult to go on but better than nothing.

"He did mention Tsaubuns once or twice. It lies to the west I believe… across the plain," the man's brows furrowed. "It's a long way to go … will take you a while young man."

Link nodded. He had been going in the wrong direction for months. _'Urgh, now I have to go back,'_ he thought. He had realised that you could get bored with grass and open blue sky especially when it was the only thing around for months. He sighed and stood up. "Thank you for your hospitality sir," he said with a bow leaving several little red stones on the table. The man seemed shocked at the amount of rupees and didn't answer him.

When the blond got outside once more he could hear the familiar sound of a violin playing. He turned around. On a small stump by the grazing cows sat the farmer's daughter. She was playing the violin slowly the melody was sad. He walked up to her and tilted his head. _'Was this the girl Harry first learned to play the violin from?' _he wondered. She looked up at him as he came closer. Her big blue eyes filled with unshed tears. Link stopped dead in his tracks. He wondered what could possibly make her that sad. He pulled his ocarina out and placed the instrument against his lips. Slowly he joined the small girl in her melody filling the air with his pain. Loosing Harry had been the worst thing that had ever happened to him and Link hadn't been able to really express that sadness before now.

They played in harmony for what seemed like hours pouring their grief through the instruments. Link lowered his ocarina slowly. He could feel warmth emitting from the pouch that held Harry's violin. He picked the instrument out slowly and the little girl's eyes widened. Link looked up at her. "You remember him?" he asked.

The girl nodded. She eyed the violin before giving Link a questioning look.

Link met her gaze for a moment. "You want to know how I know him?" he asked.

The girl nodded once more.

Link sat down in the grass. He crossed his legs and began the tale:

"It all started on a warm morning. The birds were chirping and the air was crisp despite the warmth. I had just woken up and realised that I was completely out off food which led me down to my best friend Saria's house. When I entered the house, however, Saria wasn't alone. No there was a small dark haired boy sitting with her. He looked up at me when I entered. He had the most brilliant green eyes I have ever seen…"

… … … … … … … …

"… and so when I got back to Kokiri Forest I hoped that Harry would be coming home soon. But as days became weeks and weeks became months I realised that no one but me and Saria could even remember Harry. And he hadn't come back. I started to realise that Zelda might have sent him back to where he came from and the only person who can help me is his Master Salazar. I just hope that he remembers Harry," Link sighed as he finished the story.

Darkness was falling over the land once more. The blond hoped that the farmer and his daughter wouldn't mind him staying for the night. He looked up at the strawberry-blond girl. She was smiling gently at him.

* * *

><p>Link lifted a water bag to his mouth. The sun was blazing and it burned his fair skin but there was little he could do about it. In the far distance he could see the outline of a forest. At least he hoped it was a forest. He was not setting his foot in another swamp ever. Epona walked slowly beside him. She was hot and tired but she knew that giving up now wouldn't help her.<p>

Link and Epona could finally breathe out in the shade created by the many trees surrounding them. They had increased their pace that day just so they could reach the treeline before nightfall.

Link walked in deeper. The forest held a calm which did not seem natural. It was like something was pressing down from the trees. A forest wasn't supposed to feel like this. He walked further in his ears searching for any sound his eyes narrowed in concentration. He jumped as a guay lifted from the branches above him. "Sheesh, Link calm down," he mumbled to himself as he made his way back to Epona.

The two would spend several weeks in the forest. Only stopping for sleep and …

…

There were at least a dozen or so wolfos lying in the clearing before them.

Link looked at the blood soaked ground. _'What could have killed an entire pack of wolfos?'_ he wondered. It made him uneasy. Wolfos in themselves weren't dangerous. The only reason he and Harry had been fighting wolfos in Hyrule was because of Ganondorf. Wolfos were usually peaceful creatures and seeing them dead like this saddened the blond. He stepped over the closest body and walked further in. There were little cubs here as well. He crouched down is fingers passing just above the cub's fur. A tear fell to the ground and then another Link cried for the poor creatures. Soon his tears turned into determination a determination to find and deal with whatever had caused this. He stood up. His eyes were blurring as he walked past the wolfos. There was a blood trail going out off the clearing. He took a deep breath. "I'll be back soon girl," he told Epona before he headed into the darkness between the trees.

The trees around Link were covered with thick thorny vines. The blond had realised this when he stumbled on a tree root and went face first into the thorns. He was bleeding quite a lot but he wouldn't let that stop him.

Something moved past him in the darkness. Link stopped and listened. He had felt rather than heard whatever it was passing him. His steps were careful and near silent after that as he moved forward. The trees thinned out and the blond could smell something foul followed by the scent of burning wood. The faint glow of a fire met his eyes as he passed some bushes. He crouched down and moved forward slowly.

There was a fire going in an opening before him. Someone or something was moving around the fire occasionally throwing things in a big metal cauldron. The content bubbled and fizzled, a thick putrid-green smoke billowing from the contents.

Link moved quickly across the opening so he would have a better view-point. The being moving around the cauldron wore a big cloak with a hood that covered whatever face was there. The blond breathed in the stench from the concoction, making his nose wrinkle. "Why have you killed the wolfos?" he asked not moving from his position.

The being moving around the cauldron stopped. It looked around for a moment before it started moving again throwing another ingredient into the mix.

Link steeled his nerves. He moved out and kicked the being back from the cauldron. It hit the ground and the hood fell back revealing the face of a young girl. She had beautiful pale skin and long chestnut-brown hair. This Link didn't really notice though as he was in fact not so interested in women. No, he noticed the crazed amber eyes that darted back and forth not focusing anywhere. Her hands were bloody and her lips looked like she regularly bit straight through the flesh. He walked forward sword drawn and shoulders tense. "Why did you kill the wolfos?" he asked her again.

The girl's eyes fluttered before they slowly focused on the blond. She grinned. "Little boy, little boy walking in the forest… don't know May will pick him apart. May will look inside she will. Young boy be beautiful when May be done with him," she said in a sing-song voice.

Link took a step back. _'This girl is insane,'_ he thought. He clutched his sword tighter.

May got up from the ground and stared wide-eyed at the blond. She licked her lips slowly. "Heart of wolf and inside out May will make little boy beautiful she will." The girl brought her hand up and blew a powder at Link. The blond backed off and placed a foot on something that made him slip. He gasped surprised breathing in the strange powder.

His head felt dizzy. His eyes were falling shut. The blond could feel his arms giving out beneath him.

The air was filled with a strange green smoke…

There was a strange tingling travelling down his chest…

The sound of hooves came closer…

Link blinked slowly.

_'__What is going on?'_

There was a scream as something fell to the ground. Link shook his head slowly. He could see Epona. The horse was lining up with the cauldron. She kicked it back making the horrid concoction flow out over the grass floor.

Link grabbed on to the horse's mane as she came up to him. "Thank you girl," he mumbled as he pulled himself up on her. His body sagged forward and Epona swiftly moved through the forest. Her rider needed help. He was fading quickly and she knew it. Letting her instincts guide her hooves she picked up her speed.

On the horse's back the young blond was fighting a losing battle. He just couldn't keep awake any longer. He hoped Epona wouldn't let him fall off.

* * *

><p>It had been a tiring ride. He was glad that Tsaubuns was in sight. He could hopefully get a warm meal and maybe even a proper bath. He dismounted his horse and grabbed his saddlebags. He walked up to one of the houses and knocked on the door.<p>

He was let in barely a word was shared between him and his host. He walked in deeper into the house. There was a tub filled with water in the wash room. He sighed as he slipped into the water. He leaned back letting the water soak through the muck, grime and blood that covered his body. He let his mind drift something had been nagging at him for some time now but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The meal that evening was good Mhairi really had outdone herself this time. The bed was soft and it didn't take him long to fall into slumber.

…

The next morning he was up early. There was little point in lazing around in bed. He walked outside where Selene was tying the knot on her apron. The girl was soon heading off to deal with her morning chores. He would be helping the villagers with various tasks on this day. It was something he did to pay for his stay here. He gave Mhairi a nod as he passed her. He had known the woman for quite some time though she had recently remarried to the hamlets leader Solas. Solas and Salazar had never really gotten along. The man was far too wary of magic for that. Their relationship was chill at best.

The day progressed much like any other day when Salazar spent time here. It would seem like he had once again missed the Mothula that terrorised the hamlet every year. The man sighed as he helped a calf back on his feet. The poor thing had broken a leg and would have needed to be slaughtered if Salazar hadn't come around. It would have made things difficult for the little hamlet since the calf was the only male one and the old bull was dying. They would need the little calf to increase their livestock.

He stood up and walked out off the enclosure leaving the grazing cows. He looked at the forest something didn't feel right. He shrugged it off there was more things he needed to do.

…

Later that night after most people had fallen asleep Salazar was still awake. He was tired but couldn't sleep. The feeling he had yesterday that something was missing was growing stronger. It was highly annoying and proved to keep the man awake for hours trying to figure it out.

Suddenly he was brought out off his musings by the sound of hooves approaching. The poor horse seemed ready to collapse. _'Who would treat their horse like that,'_ the man wondered as he headed outside.

In the dim light he could only make out the mane of the mare coming towards the hamlet. The poor thing stopped her legs shaking. Then the figure sitting on her back fell off slowly hitting the ground with a thump.

Salazar hurried his steps. It was a boy around thirteen or so with blond hair. He turned the child around and gasped at the blood covering his chest. "Now what has happened to you child?" he whispered. Then he looked up at the horse. "I'll take care of him now dear you can rest," he told worried horse. She snorted but let herself down on the ground. She would rest there until she was strong enough to move.

The black-haired man lifted the young blond up and quickly made his way into the house he was staying in. He laid the child down in his bed and conjured some water to wash the blonde's chest off. He desperately hoped that the blood didn't come from the boy as he worked.

He had to take a deep breath to steady his stomach when the blonde's chest was revealed to him. Deep cuts went in a cross over the boy's chest. It looked like someone had tried to open him up. Salazar moved his fingers over the wounds carefully. They were held together with magic but the magic didn't belong to the boy in front of him. It felt familiar, though, like he should know who it belonged to. Salazar quickly removed a potions vial from his belt and poured the liquid out on the blonde's chest. It fizzled as he spread it over the wounds making certain that it covered everything. Then he sat back to wait.

…

The sun woke him up the next morning. He blinked before stretching his back making the joints poop. His eyes fell on the young blond sleeping in his bed. Last night's dreams came back to him dreams of a young raven-haired boy with beautiful emerald eyes. Dreams he knew to be memories. The magic he had felt the night before had belonged to Harry he knew this for certain. Then this boy had to be Link. The Sorcerer doubted that Harry's magic would work to protect anyone else. From one of the blonde's pouches the man pulled the violin he had gifted his apprentice … his son. There was other magic there, though; magic that didn't belong to Harry or Link. Salazar pulled a scroll out off one of the pouches.

"Harry said you wanted that scroll… So I brought it with me from the Stone Tower Temple," a voice said weakly.

Salazar turned. The young blond was awake his blue eyes tired.

"He said you had travelled to Termina … That the man in the Music-box house had died. He is O.K. now … I saved him from the curse…" the blond trailed off. He was tired and his chest hurt.

Salazar was looking at the child. This boy was the one his son loved he realised. "What happened to Harry?" he asked.

"I think Princess Zelda returned Harry to England sir," the blond said tiredly.

Salazar nodded he would need to know more but that would have to wait. "Sleep now child we can talk more when you have healed properly," he told the blond.

Link blinked sluggishly. Then he opened his mouth to accept the potion Salazar was holding out for him. He closed his eyes and was soon fast asleep.


	25. Loony

**Loony**

That dog hadn't really been a dog Harry realised as he lay in bed at the Leaky Cauldron. Master Salazar would flay him for not realising that sooner. He sighed. _'Not that Sal will ever know about it.'_

**_"_****_What is wrong Master,"_** Zant hissed as he crawled up to the pillow beside Harry's head.

**_"_****_I miss Master Salazar, Zant,"_** Harry hissed back. The serpent nodded slowly. He lay down across the raven's forehead and Harry chuckled. **_"What are you doing Zant?"_**

**_"_****_I'm trying to make you feel better," _**the serpent told him.

Harry laughed he sat up and caught the serpent as he fell. **_"Thank you Zant," _**he said. He was glad that he had Zant with him. It was a shame that he'd just blown Aunt Marge up like a balloon but what he regretted the most was that he'd done it when the Winters weren't home. They were off visiting Nathaniel's mother and wouldn't be back for another week at least.

The teen and serpent fell asleep not long after that. Harry was dreaming of the orchard he and Salazar had made in Atallieru.

* * *

><p>Miles away in a big old castle in Scotland an aging wizard sat. He was concerned. A diary had been dropped on his desk. By whom he did not know and why was a mystery as well. But these things did not worry him so much as the magic that radiated from the nondescript black book. It had a faded date in gold letters and the name inside simply confirmed his suspicions: T. M. Riddle. It was a name he hadn't seen since the young man himself had last tried to gain the Defence Against the Dark Arts position back in, well it must have been in the late 1950s.<p>

The note written in blood had simply stated:

_This is the instrument by which the dangers of the Chamber of Secrets have been unleashed. _

_Due to its nature I have decided it to be of upmost importance that it be destroyed. _

_However, I felt there was a need for others to see it for themselves. _

_As such it the diary will self-destruct with the turning of the sixth moon._

_~Shadow_

And he had found it. The magic which would destroy the book. It was sealed in blood, though, which made it near impossible to undo. Questions had swirled around his head: Who was this Shadow? Where out there lived a witch or wizard with the ability and knowledge to use blood runes like this, and where did the runes come from? For Dumbledore had seen no runes like these before. How could someone so potentially dangerous have just entered the wards of Hogwarts without alerting him and how had that very same person entered his office without triggering any alarms?

Dumbledore looked back down at the diary. He knew what it was and it both disgusted and scared him. How many of these were out there? The diary obviously was one, but it was most likely made for the purpose it had served the past school year. It was supposed to end up in the hands of a student and open the Chamber.

So Tom must have made more. How many more?

He wouldn't have time to figure this out now. School was starting up again soon. He needed to focus on his students and those horrid Dementors that Cornelius insisted on placing around his school because of Black's escape.

This was not going to be a pleasant year.

* * *

><p>Summer had progressed nicely. Harry's time spent in Diagon Alley had been both interesting and fun. He was a bit concerned about this Sirius Black. The name was… almost familiar but he had no idea why. He had spent a couple of afternoons with the goblins at Gringotts. They had informed him of his holdings but had also told him that he was currently too young to take control of them. In a few years, probably two, since he was the last of his line. Harry had asked to Goblins to make a full audit of his accounts so he would know what to do when time came.<p>

…

While the Minister of Magic had more or less ordered him to stay in wizarding London, Harry's hands itched; he really wanted a violin. He wanted to play again. So, he had sent Hedwig with a note to Nathaniel and the man had met him early the morning before he was bound for Hogwarts. They had eaten breakfast and then gone instrument hunting. Harry had informed the redhead that Black was a wizard which had the man giving him a pointed look. "You'll make certain to stay safe this year Harry," he'd said.

Harry had snorted and rolled his eyes. "I might be a brave and reckless Gryffindor, Nathaniel," he said. "But that's just a cover you know. In reality I'm a Slytherin and we don't just run into danger we plan ahead."

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. "Oh, of course all might serpent," he said sarcastically. "So you didn't throw yourself after Emelle or go after the Philosopher's stone or…"

"O.K. alright I got it," Harry grumbled. "I'll stay safe I promise."

Eventually they'd found a good practice violin for a descent price and now Harry was heading back into the Leaky Cauldron. Sitting down in his room he unpacked the beautiful instrument. It didn't compare to the one Salazar had given him but it was nice all the same. He worked in slow steady motions until everything was ready. Then he lifted bow to strings and played.

It went a bit jagged at first with a lot of false notes but soon enough he played smoothly. He was just fooling around to begin with. Suddenly the tones of Saria's Song fell like water from the violin.

He had no idea for how long he sat there playing. The steady notes of familiar melodies flowing from the violin.

That night his dreams seemed almost more real than reality. Harry didn't want to wake up the following morning. But up he got. Packed and ready to leave he headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Hey Harry," "Wondered when you'd," "Show up," Fred and George spoke back and forth.

"Hey guys I didn't know you were here," Harry replied.

"We arrived," "Yesterday to buy," "Our school stuff."

Harry rolled his eyes he knew the twins did that to confuse people.

"Dad told us," "You were here," "But we didn't see you," "Yesterday," "Our family is downstairs they're having breakfast," George finished they seemed to have tired of twins-speech for now.

The three boys headed down the stairs. By a table sat the Weasley family plus Hermione. Mrs Weasley seemed to be telling the girls about a Love Potion she'd made as a young girl. They were giggling something awful. And Mr Weasley was reading a newspaper. His brows furrowed in concentration.

"Good morning," Harry greeted them as he sat down between the twins.

"Harwy…"

"Don't speak with your mouth full Ronald!" Mrs Weasley said before turning to the raven. "Good morning dear," she said.

Harry smiled softly at her and then he turned to Hermione. "So how was France?" he asked and then he spent the rest of the meal listening to her talk about her holidays.

Suddenly Mr Weasley who had gone outside a while ago came back in. "The cars are here Harry come on hurry."

Harry who was a tad bit confused followed Mr Weasley out to the first of two old-fashioned dark green cars. He was pushed into the backseat of the car and was soon joined by Ron, Hermione and to Ron's disgust Percy.

Once the cars started moving Harry asked Ron about his trip to Egypt. The redhead started talking in almost the same intense manner that Hermione had used earlier but he focused on completely different things.

Once at King's Cross station Mr Weasley kept close to Harry and it was starting to get on the raven's nerves. It was frustrating to know that something was going on but not what it was. _'Really I can take care of myself thanks,' _he thought irritably when Mr Weasley told them they would be heading through the barrier in pairs. Finally on the wizarding platform Harry used the crowd to his advantage. He disappeared.

At the back of the train there was a compartment with a sleeping man in it. The man looked ill and exhausted. He was wearing shabby robes that were darned in several places, and contrary to the age he looked to be, his light-brown hair was flecked with grey.

Harry heaved his trunk up next to a tattered case. It had the name 'R. J. Lupin' stamped across the corner in peeling letters. Then he removed his violin case from the trunk, sat down and carefully picked the instrument out. He looked up at the sleeping man._ 'I doubt I'll wake him unless I really screw up,'_ he thought.

Harry started playing. His strokes were light at first creating a soft calming melody. If he had his true violin, he would have been able to make the poor man feel better. He had closed and locked the compartment door when he entered and lost in the melody he wouldn't have noticed someone even if they were out there.

Then the train slowed down and then the lights went out bringing the raven out off his concentration. His brows furrowed_ 'What's going on?' _he wondered. He looked out. There was something moving out there. He moved closer to the window placing the violin in his lap. Whatever had been outside had moved onto the train. He didn't like it.

Cold was creeping into his blood. It wasn't natural. No, Harry could almost taste the magic. The compartment door opened with a creak and the cold increased. A cloaked figure was standing in the doorway. The raven could feel the cold spreading from it. At the back of his head he could hear the faint sound of a woman screaming. Then the creature took a deep rattling breath and he could feel himself slipping. The screaming got worse … everything went black.

When Harry opened his eyes again the compartment was lit once more. _'I fainted,'_ he thought groggily. He felt sick as he reached up to fix his glasses. There was cold sweat on his face. Mr Lupin was sitting on the seat next to him. Harry sat up slowly. He was on the floor. "What was that thing?" he asked hoarsely.

"A Dementor one of the Dementors of Azkaban," Lupin said and removed a chocolate bar from his pocket. He broke a piece off and offered it to the raven. "Eat it you'll feel better," he said.

Harry accepted the chocolate with a, "Thanks."

"I need to go and speak to the driver, if you would excuse me…" he stood up and left Harry.

The raven nibbled on the chocolate for a while. Then he got back up on his seat and grabbed his violin. To his relief he instrument was undamaged. Placing the bow against the strings, _'People need something upbeat after that,'_ he thought. He stood up a bit shakily as he started playing but soon he was moving with the tune.

When he opened his eyes once more he noticed that Lupin was back. He didn't stop playing though. He just smirked at the man's surprised expression and changed the tune slightly. Master Salazar had once told him he was a natural with the violin. He was glad that still held true. He ended with Saria's favourite tune.

"That was very beautiful Harry," Lupin said.

Harry inclined his head. "Thank you Mr Lupin," he responded. He wasn't too surprised that the man knew his name since the entire wizarding world seemed to know it. He sat down crossing his legs.

Lupin seemed to want to say something else but the compartment door opened interrupting him.

"Harry there you are… Is that a violin?" Hermione had entered the compartment.

"I've been here all along and yes it is a violin," Harry answered. He placed the instrument back in its case.

"You can play the violin Harry?" Hermione looked surprised.

Harry chuckled. "Yes 'Mione I can play the violin."

"Oh." She sat down next to him. Then she blinked startled as she noticed Lupin. "I'm sorry sir I didn't introduce my…"

Lupin waved her off. "It's fine Miss don't worry about me," he said with a smile.

Eventually the train did stop at Hogsmeade station. They left the train and made their way through the rain that had been falling heavily since midday. Once in the safety of Hogwarts Entrance Hall they breathed out.

* * *

><p>Harry was walking down a corridor alone one day. He had left a stressed Hermione and a bored Ron in the common room. He was thinking of green fields and deep forests as he rounded the next corner.<p>

"What is it Loony gonna cry, huh?"

Harry blinked. _'What is going on here?' _he wondered. Two girls were standing on either side of a third. One of them was ripping some sort of paper to shreds. "What are you doing?" he asked sternly.

The girls looked over at him. Then they turned to face each other. "Nothing we're just talking," one of them said.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really," he said coldly. He walked up to the small blond girl. "Hey are you O.K?" he asked softly.

The girl turned to him. Her protuberant eyes were opened wide. She looked a bit strange with her peapod earrings and cork necklace. Her wand was stuck behind her left ear. She tilted her head. "O.K. yes I guess I'm O.K." She kept looking at him not blinking once. "You know…you're Harry Potter," she stated.

Harry shook his head in amusement. "Yes I'm Harry Potter," he said. "Are these girls bothering you?" he asked her.

"Hmmm," the girl got a dreamy look on her face. "I think it's the Tailpasarans fault," she said.

Harry did a double take. Did he hear that right "Tailpasarans?" he asked.

"Mmm, they're parasitic tapeworms," the girl said. She was watching the ceiling now.

Harry looked at her. _'How does she know that?'_ he wondered. Then he looked over at the girls. "Yeah I guess it could be Tailpasarans they do tend to make people rather nasty," he said thinking of Ruto.

The girl finally blinked. "Yes, yes they do. They do make people awfully nasty," she said dreamily.

The two girls that had been bullying the little blond stood there starting at them. How could anyone believe the nonsense Loony was spouting?

Harry ignored them. "Would you like to come with me? I was thinking of going outside," he looked back at the blond.

"You would like me to come with you? I'd love too," the girl said dreamily.

Harry just shook his head and grabbed her hand. They walked outside in silence. It was a nice change from the constant blabber of Hermione and Ron. They sat down by a tree near the lake. Harry leaned back against the trunk and looked over at the girl. "What's your name by the way?" he asked.

It took a while for her to answer "Luna, Luna Lovegood," she finally said.

Harry nodded. He reached out and pulled his violin from its case. Luna was an interesting girl he thought as he started playing.

It would be the start of a solid friendship.

* * *

><p>The first quidditch game of the season had been a disaster. Harry had woken up in the hospital wing a few hours ago and he felt groggy still.<p>

"Harry." The soft voice of Cedric Diggory reached his ears.

"Ced' what are you doing here," Harry tried to sit up properly.

"What am I doing … Harry the Dementors came and you fell like fifty-feet. I wanted to see how you were doing," Cedric sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. "And I wasn't the only one," he said inclining his head.

Harry looked up again. "Luna," he breathed. The girl was staring at him which wasn't unusual but there was something. Something in the way her shoulders were tense and she almost reached out for him.

"How are you feeling Harry?" she asked her usually dreamy voice had a scared edge to it.

Harry smiled reassuringly at her. "Like a heard of Helmasauruses has trampled all over me," he responded.

"That's not very nice of them," Luna said.

Cedric was sitting there watching the strange conversation take place. When Harry had first dragged Luna along for one of their usual study sessions he'd been sceptical. Not that he had anything against the strange girl it had just seemed a bit over the top somehow. Of course Harry hadn't stood for that. No the raven wanted Luna to be a part and so she was. He'd gotten used to their talks of creatures no one had ever seen or heard of before. But both Harry and Luna believed in them so he let the two be.

"I found Boe droppings on the third floor earlier," Luna said. She was twirling her hair absentmindedly. Then she looked over at Harry. "You look better with long hair Harry. You should grow it out again," she said.

Harry started laughing. "Yeah I've been thinking about it," he said running a hand though his hair. Then he winked at Luna and grabbed his wand from the nightstand. He placed the tip to his scalp and the black hair grew out slowly. It was soon reaching beneath his shoulder blades. "There," he said as he put the wand back down. "Now what was this talk of Boe droppings Luna?"

Cedric was just sitting there staring at the raven. How? Why? "What did Luna mean by growing it out **again**?" he asked confused.

Harry raised an eyebrow amused. "I doubt you'd believe me if I told you Ced'," he told the brunet.

Cedric didn't get a chance to respond as Madam Pomfrey walked in and ordered both him and Luna to leave so Harry could rest.

…

"…I mean just look at his hair what has happened. It wasn't like that yesterday," Ron's voice woke Harry up the next morning.

"Ron really, keep it down. It's not like it's a big deal anyway," Hermione said.

"Not a big deal look at him…"

Harry sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes. "Wha' you two on abou'?" he asked tiredly.

"Harry how are you feeling?" Hermione asked quickly.

"I'm fine 'Mione a little sore but nothing major," Harry answered.

"Hey mate what happened to you hair?" Ron butted in.

"What do you mean Ron?" the raven asked confused.

"Well it's all long and stuff," the redhead told him.

Harry starred at his friend for a moment then he said "So."

Ron blushed uncomfortably. Harry didn't seem surprised by the statement. The raven was even looking at him like it was supposed to be that way. "You did it yourself," he blurted out before he'd thought about it properly.

"Yes as a matter of fact I did," Harry said. "I happen to like it."

"I think it's much nicer long," Luna's dreamy voice drifted through the air.

"Well no one asked for your opinion," Ron told her rudely.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the redhead then he turned to Luna with a smile. "Any more sightings of Boe droppings Luna?" he asked the blond and motioned for her to come over.

Luna sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Ron and Hermione. She was staring of into nothing when she answered Harry. "No there have been no more Boe droppings," she said dejectedly.

"Don't worry Luna we'll find them," Harry reassured her.

"What is a Boe I don't think I've ever heard of them," Hermione asked.

"You wouldn't have," Luna said airily. "They aren't very well known." Harry smiled at her. "A Boe is a small shuffling hazy ball usually black or white with red-rimmed orange eyes," Luna described the creatures.

Hermione looked at the girl sceptically. She doubted the creatures existed at all really.

Harry had to stay in the hospital wing until Sunday evening rolled around. He was rather bored with the place by then. He was thinking about the big Grim like dog he'd seen. He was convinced it was the same one he'd seen back in Magnolia Crescent. What was the dog doing here or rather what was the man he knew the dog to be doing here. It was like Ron's rat. Harry blinked _'What if the dog is looking for the rat?'_ he contemplated.


	26. Blue Eyed Beast

**Blue Eyed Beast**

Link groaned as he sat up slowly. He shifted and stood up. He was alone in the tent. The past couple of months he had spent travelling with Salazar. They had been gathering a bunch of strange things. He didn't actually want to know what the man was going to do with it.

"Are you awake yet," Salazar's gruff voice travelled through the tent flap.

"Yes I'm up sir," Link answered. He quickly got out off the tent and sat down next to the black-haired man. He accepted the bowl Salazar handed him and ate quickly. He really needed a bath before they kept travelling.

The water was cold but Link didn't care. He'd been through worse. He shook the water out off his hair. A warming and drying charm was sent his way and he bobbed his head to Salazar in thanks.

The dark-haired man sighed as he finished packing. They had a strange sort of companionship him and this boy. They were brought together by their memories of Harry. He sat up in the saddle and waited for the young man to join him.

Salazar had known that he'd lose his adoptive son as Harry travelled back to Earth but this was different. He hadn't even bee given a chance to say goodbye. At least Link seemed determined to join his friend so, his work hadn't been futile. He could send the blond to Britain something he knew would make his son happy. It would also give him a chance to give his snakeling the information he'd gathered about how to strengthen the wards. He only hoped that Harry hadn't forgotten about them. But since Link seemed to have no troubles remembering there was probably no need to worry.

* * *

><p>Link woke up suddenly. He was alone. His eyes narrowed. It was still dark outside. <em>'Where would Salazar have gone to in the middle of the night,' <em>he wondered. He carefully moved out off the tent and looked around in the darkness.

A sound coming from the nearby bushes had him pulling his sword. There were two snakes slithering out from the vegetation.

Link lowered his body and focused his magic through the blade he was holding. It started glowing brightly in the dark.

Blue

Orange

Link's eyes widened as he recognised Salazar's familiar Midaine. He moved back.

And then the area around the snakes darkened.

When Link could see once more Salazar was standing there. The blond blinked. He pushed his sword back into its scabbard. He didn't quite know what to say. Had Salazar just transformed from a snake into a human?

"Stop staring boy it doesn't become you," Salazar said. "Ask the question if you have one don't stand there gaping like a common fool."

Blue eyes blinked and Link blushed. "Sorry Salazar, sir. I was wondering if you were the serpent that came here with Midaine?" he said carefully.

Salazar chuckled. "That would be correct child," he confirmed.

Link bit his lip. "Could you teach me to do that?" he asked. It would be so cool to be able to turn into an animal.

The black-haired man tilted his head. He thought about it for a moment. Link did have magic so he should in theory be capable of the transformation but… Well he had no clue how the boy's magic worked. "I can try but it might not work. Our magic is not the same after all and you will probably not turn into a snake," he said.

Link smiled. "I didn't think so sir and I'd like to try even if it won't work," he said. He really needed something to distract himself with.

Salazar nodded. "Yes why not and if it does work there are a few other things I can teach you with will aid you in the future." He smirked. "Like English for example though I should probably do that even if you can't turn into an animal."

The blond nodded slowly.

And so Link's training in the field of magic began. He would never become capable of doing magic the way that Harry and Salazar could. He charged items like the bow charms and his sword with power. But he had magic all the same which meant that he could learn things like Occlumency but not its partner Legilimency since that required direct use of magic.

…

One bright and sunny day after Salazar and Link had made it back to the wizard's home, the blond was sitting in the garden. He was floating serenely in his own mind. He had been trying to turn into an animal for months now. Salazar had told him that it was a difficult thing to do but that didn't stop him. Then something shifted and he suddenly just knew how to do it. A smile spread over his face revealing growing white canines. Blue eyes opened as his skin rippled.

* * *

><p>Salazar ran a hand through his hair as he studied the potion he was working on. The stupid thing wouldn't thicken. He growled in frustration and vanished the stupid thing. He might as well start over.<p>

Walking out off the house, Salazar took a deep breath. He needed some fresh air. He looked around. Last time he'd looked out Link had been sitting in the shade of the trees just left from the door. The blond wasn't there now though.

"Woof."

Salazar turned there was a light brown streak moving over the grass plain in front of his house. It stopped by his feet and barked. The black-haired man looked down in to the big blue eyes of a sand coloured wolf.

The wolf barked again, its tongue coming out to hang from the side of its mouth.

"Link," Salazar said and the wolf waged its tail. "I can see that you managed to transform but now the question is can you turn back," he said.

The wolf tilted his head. The fur rippled and Link was standing there a bright grin decorating his face.

Salazar shook his head. "Boys," he exclaimed and walked back to the house.

Link's laughter followed him.

…

The blond spent a lot of time as a wolf after that. He soon knew every nook and cranny around Salazar's home.

* * *

><p>AN: Merry Christmas<p> 


	27. Cold Ones

**Cold Ones**

After the next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson Lupin asked Harry to stay behind.

"I heard about the match," Lupin said as he started piling books into his briefcase, "and I'm sorry about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?"

Harry looked at the man. _'Where does this come from?' _he wondered. "No the tree smashed it to bits," he answered.

Lupin sighed. "They planted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it. No broomstick would have a chance."

Harry looked at the man. There was something with how he'd worded what he said that gnawed at him. "You said they planted it the year you arrived sir," Harry could see the man stiffen. It confirmed his suspicions. "They planted it because of you didn't they?"

"What gave you that impression Harry?" the man asked with a faint tension in his voice.

"Oh I don't know the Wolfsbane maybe or the fact that you were strangely sick during the full moon Professor," Harry tilted his head to the side.

Lupin had frozen completely now.

"Don't worry I'm not planning on telling anyone. Though, I assume that the staff knows about it seeing as you had several of them as your teachers when you attended school," the raven said calmly.

The man relaxed slightly. "You truly are your parents' son Harry," he said. "But that still doesn't explain how you guessed about the Whomping Willow."

"Intuition and logic," Harry said. "You would have needed a safe place to turn and the Willow covers a passage. I've seen Hermione's cat go down there."

Lupin had turned so he was facing Harry. "I guess there is no point in hiding it, is there?" he studied the teen before him for a moment. Harry's black hair had been pulled back in a plait, and he was wearing the regular school outfit. His charisma, however, was something completely different. It was so dark it tickled the wolf's curiosity.

"You knew my parents didn't you Professor?" Harry asked then.

"Yes I did," he looked at the raven. "Your father and I were friends and Lily," he sighed, "we used to study together," he said.

Harry wanted to ask the man question about his parents but there wasn't enough time right now so instead he asked. "Is there any way to fight off a Dementor?"

"Harry…"

"Oh don't worry you don't have to tell me I'll just find some way on my own eventually," Harry looked up at the ceiling. "Every time they come near me I can hear Voldemort murdering my mother," he whispered a tear running down his cheek.

"O.K. … there is a charm I can teach you," Lupin said frantically not wanting to see the son of his only real friends cry. "But it will have to wait until after the Christmas Holidays."

Harry concealed a smirk. "Thank you Professor," he said with a light bow and left. _'Slytherin methods work really well sometimes,_' he thought as he walked down the corridor.

Time went as time does and soon there was only two weeks left to the Christmas Holidays. Another Hogsmeade weekend was planned and Harry had just said good bye to his friends. He was going to spend the day with Luna. She'd been talking about Blibbering Humdingers or something like that last he saw her.

"Psst … Harry."

Harry turned around over by a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch stood Fred and George. He looked at them astonished. "Why are you guys still here?" he asked walking up to them. "How come you aren't on your way to Hogsmeade?"

"We've come to give you a bit of festive cheer before we go," Fred said with a mysterious wink. "Come in here…" He nodded towards an empty classroom to the left of the statue. Harry followed the two pranksters into the room and George closed the door behind them. He turned around beaming at Harry. "Early Christmas present for you Harry," he said and Fred pulled something out from the inside of his cloak with a flourish. He laid it out on one of the desks. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment. It was blank.

Harry walked forward. The parchment was filled with magic. He placed his hands on either side of the square and studied the magical threads. "What is it?" he asked curiously.

"This, Harry, is the secret of our success," George told him patting the parchment fondly.

Harry looked up at the twins and listened to them explain how they had stolen the parchment from Filch office in their first year. The story was amusing to say the least. He snorted as they described themselves as innocent. _'Really like you guys have ever been innocent,'_ he thought.

"And you know how it works then?"

"Oh yes," Fred said smirking. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."

Harry shook his head in amusement. "Really?"

George nodded eagerly before pulling out his wand and placing it on the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said.

Harry starred in wonder at the tip of the wand. Black lines spread out over the parchment joining and criss-crossed. Soon the lines covered the entire thing. Then words blossomed out across the top of the parchment in great, curly, green letters proclaiming that:

_Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

_Are proud to present _

_The MARAUDER'S MAP_

It was a map, a map that showed Hogwarts Castle and grounds. But that wasn't it. The most remarkable thing about it was that the map had at least a hundred little black dots moving around and every little dot had a name tag attached to it. Harry watched as Dumbledore paced in his study and Luna was standing on the seventh floor. _'What is she doing up there?'_ he wondered.

"Now these all lead right into Hogsmeade," Fred said and pointed at a set of passages that seemed to lead out of the castle.

Harry nodded. _'That's good to know,'_ he thought.

"There are seven in total and Filch knows about these four…" Fred pointed at the map, "but we're sure we're the only ones who know about these. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in, completely blocked. And we don't recon anyone has ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance. But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times."

"It starts right outside of this room," Harry noticed.

"Yeah that's right," George said with a smirk. "Just don't forget to wipe it when you're done," "Otherwise any one can read it," "Just tap it with your wand and say 'Mischief managed!' and it'll go blank," they told him.

Then Fred turned serious. "So, young Harry," Fred said in an uncanny impersonation of Percy, "mind you behave yourself."

"See you in Honeydukes," George said winking. They both left the room smirking in satisfaction.

Harry looked down at the map for a moment. He'd promised Luna that they would look for Bibbering Humdingers and he would keep that promise. "Mischief managed," he mumbled and packed the map into his bag. He would take a closer look later.

* * *

><p>Christmas came and with it did the gifts. Harry had to say that the one from the Winters family and the one from Luna were the best ones. Both were completely insane really. Emelle had apparently decided he needed wrist warmers for some reason and the colours she had chosen were eye-watering: neon green, pale and hot pink striped, bright yellow with orange stars were among the colours she had picked. The Winters did it like that last year Erenigh had been the one to pick his Christmas gift so naturally this year it was Emelle's turn to choose. Luna's gift had been a beautiful drawing of a Deku scrub, a Deku scrub with blond hair.<p>

When he'd opened all the gifts he knew the sender of there was one left. It was a long and thin. Harry stared at it for a moment. There was no note and the parcel reeked of magic.

"What's that?" Ron asked all of a sudden. He held a pair of maroon socks in his hand.

"I don't know," the raven said. He shuffled through his trunk for a pair of dragon hide gloves before he carefully removed the paper. A broomstick rolled out on his bedspread. It wasn't just any old broomstick though. No, it was a Firebolt, a broom Harry had considered buying this summer. It was the best one on the market.

Ron had jumped off his bed to get a closer look. "I don't believe it," he said hoarsely "It's a Firebolt." He reached out to touch it but Harry stopped him.

"Don't," the raven said. Ron looked at him strangely. "We have no idea who sent it … just don't touch it yet." Harry searched through the paper it had arrived in but there was nothing there. He swallowed _'Who in their right mind would send me something this expensive,' _he wondered.

The door to the third-year boys' dormitory opened and Hermione walked inside. She was carrying her cat, Crookshanks, with her. The cat was wearing a string of tinsel around his neck, and he didn't seem too happy about it.

"Don't bring him in here!" Ron cried hurriedly snatching his rat, Scabbers, up from the depth of his bed. He stowed the rodent in his pyjama pocket.

Hermione wasn't listening to him though. She dropped Crookshanks down on Seamus bed while staring open-mouthed at the Firebolt. "Oh, Harry who sent you that?" she asked concerned.

"No clue," Harry answered with a frown. "There wasn't any note with it."

Hermione's face fell and she bit her lip.

"What's the matter with you?" Ron asked her.

"I don't know," she answered slowly, "but it's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, this is supposed to be quite a good broom, isn't it?"

Ron sighed exasperatedly. "It's the best broom there is Hermione," he said.

"So it must have been really expensive…"

"Probably cost more than all the Slytherins' brooms put together," Ron said happily.

"Well… who'd send Harry something as expensive as that, and not even tell him they'd sent it?" Hermione asked her concern growing.

Harry was watching his two friends interact with a small smile playing on his lips. They seemed to have completely forgotten he was there.

"Who cares," Ron told the bushy-haired brunet impatiently. Listen, Harry, can I have a go on it? Can I?"

But Harry wasn't given a chance to answer because Hermione beat him to it. "I don't think anyone should ride that broom just yet!" she said shrilly.

Ron looked at her strangely. "What d'you think Harry's going to do with it … sweep the floor?" he asked.

But before Hermione could answer, Crookshanks leaped from Seamus bed right at Ron's chest.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Ron bellowed as the cat's claws ripped through his pyjamas and Scabbers attempted a wild escape over the redhead's shoulder. Ron seized the rat by the tail and aimed a misjudged kick at the cat. It hit Harry's trunk, knocking it over and causing the redhead to hop on the spot, howling with pain.

A loud shrill whistling filled the room as the Pocket Sneakoscope Ron gave the raven for his birthday that year came whirling out on the floor. The sound had scared Crookshanks out off the room, and Hermione soon followed, angry at Ron for trying to hurt her cat. Harry stuffed the still whistling Sneakoscope into the socks it had come out off before he got dressed and headed out off the common room with his violin. Without a doubt Ron would be angry at Hermione and vice versa after this new attempt on Scabber's life, and Harry didn't want to get involved. He was not picking a side in that battle.

The raven walked up to the Astronomy Tower and unpacked his violin. He played for hours not stopping until he realised that it must be time for lunch.

He was walking down to the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall stepped out off her office. Harry blinked and then he remembered the broom. He increased his pace in order to catch up with the stern Professor. "Excuse me Professor," he said as he came up behind her.

She turned. "Mr Potter is something the matter?" she asked as she saw him.

"Yes well Professor someone sent me a Firebolt for Christmas and I don't know who…" he stopped talking as McGonagall's expression turned grave. "No note no sender's information at all?"

"No, none Professor I wore dragon hide gloves when I unpacked it and no one has touched it since… But I thought it might be best if someone looked it over."

"A very wise decision Mr Potter."

They had reached the Great Hall. The house tables had been removed and replaced with a single table set for twelve. Hermione and Ron hadn't arrived yet so Harry sat down next to two very nervous-looking first years. He inclined his head to Professor Snape who sat opposite them before turning to the firsties.

"So how is Hogwarts treating you guys so far?" he asked them.

The two looked startled at being addressed by him.

"You know I don't bite… no matter what people might say," Harry smiled softly at them. It seemed to calm them somewhat.

"It's O.K. sorta miss my sister though," the girl mumbled quietly.

Harry blinked. He would have to find and talk to this girl in private later.

"It's fun," the boy said. "I like learning magic."

The conversation continued for a while. And Harry got to know Derek and Lydia better. Ron and Hermione had arrived at some point but Harry wasn't too keen on talking with them until they'd come to some sort of agreement.

The Divination teacher showed up halfway through the meal and McGonagall forced the strange woman to sit down… even if that would make them thirteen. Harry rolled his eyes _'Divination, really,'_ he thought.

Eventually he finished eating, and since his friends were still enjoying the food he stood up. He removed his violin from its case.

"You can play the violin?" Lydia asked him.

Harry smiled at her but instead of answering he placed the bow to the strings. He started playing Silent Night slowly surprising several of his professors with his skill. The tunes changed. Harry played known muggle songs and songs he had composed himself for them. When he finished the Hall was silent. He opened his eyes slowly. They were staring at him wide-eyed.

Harry feeling uncomfortable with their stares walked out off the Hall quickly.

He was sitting in the common room latter curled up in one of the comfy armchairs by the fire. He was watching the flames dance. He hadn't notice when Ron came back but he did notice when Hermione came back followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Potter," the stern woman said with a nod. "If you would carefully bring the Firebolt you received down to the common room."

Harry stood up and walked up the stairs. When he made his way back down he could hear Ron ask "What are you planning on doing with it Professor?"

"We are going to cheek it for jinxes. Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick will strip it down…"

"Strip it down?" Ron repeated as though Professor McGonagall was mad.

"It shouldn't take more than a few weeks," McGonagall turned to Harry who was back down in the common room by now. "You will get it back if were sure it is jinx-free."

Ron stared at her as Harry handed the broom over. When McGonagall had left the redhead turned to Hermione. "What did you go running to McGonagall for?" he almost shouted.

Hermione threw the book she had been hiding behind away. She was blushing fiercely, but stood up and faced Ron defiantly. "Because I thought … and Professor McGonagall agrees with me … that that broom was probably sent to Harry by Sirius Black!"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why would Black send me a jinxed broom Hermione?" he asked at the same time as Ron started shouting at the top of his lungs. Harry rolled his eyes _'Silencio,'_ he pointed his wand at the redhead before turning back to Hermione. "Well why would Black send me a jinxed broom?" he asked again.

Hermione was staring in shook at Ron and didn't answer at first.

"Hermione!" Harry said sternly.

She turned to him. "Eh," she said. "Well we sort of overheard the teachers talking about him back during the last Hogsmeade visit," she was watching her hands. "They said that Sirius Black used to be friends with your father and … And that he was the one who betrayed your parents to You-Know-Who…" she didn't dare to meet Harry's eyes.

"You think that he wants to kill me?" Harry said softly.

Hermione nodded. "Is it O.K. that I…"she looked up at him now.

"You know McGonagall would have come up here even if you hadn't told her," he said with a smile. "Cause I told her about the broom before lunch."

Hermione blinked and then she started laughing. "Then I'm sorry I didn't trust your judgment Harry," she said once she had calmed down. The raven just shrugged and she looked over at Ron. "Isn't the Silencing Charm a fifth year spell?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah Ced' taught me after they'd learnt it."

"Can you teach me?" the brunette asked enthusiastically.

"Sure," Harry shrugged.

They did eventually remove the Silencing Charm from Ron who wasn't too happy with them.

* * *

><p>"RON!" Harry shouted as the redhead was dragged down between the roots of the Whomping Willow. He moved forward to follow but a heavy branch forced him back. The Willow was shaking violently its branches going in all directions. Harry closed his eyes. <em>'It's too dark for Hermione to see me properly,<em>' he thought and the he shadowed to the opening. Turning back he saw a strange knot just beside the hole. He pressed his hand against it and the tree froze.

"Hermione come on," he called out before lighting the tip of his wand.

The brunette ran towards the light when she noticed the state the tree was in. They slowly made their way down a twisting path neither uttering a word. They were both too worried about their friend. Eventually the tunnel started rising and Harry could soon see a faint light in front of them. They climbed out into a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. All the windows were boarded up. To their right there was a door. It stood open and the dust on the floor leading up to it had drag marks through it.

"Harry," Hermione whispered frightened. "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."

Harry looked at her. He would have to take her word on it since he'd never seen the shack. There was a creak overhead and Hermione's grip on the raven's hand tightened. He squeezed back reassuringly. They slowly made their way up the stairs only to stop on the landing in front of a door.

"Nox," they whispered together and the lights at the end of their wands went out.

Harry pushed the door open and with his wand raised he walked in. He wished that he had his sai with him. He located Ron lying on a big four-poster bed before turning.

Hermione walked in behind him and when she saw Ron she rushed over. "Ron are you O.K. where is the dog?" she asked rapidly.

"Not a dog," Ron moaned in pain. "Harry it's a trap…"

"What…"

"He's the dog … he's an Animagus …" Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder.

Harry, who knew that a man had moved up behind them as they talked to Ron, whispered, "Expelliarmus," his wand pointing behind him. Ron's wand clattered to the floor beside him.

"What do you want Black?" he asked steadily. "Are you here to kill me or are you after the rat?" Harry turned slowly to look at the ragged criminal. Black had a mass of filthy, matted hair that hung to his elbows. His eyes were shining the only sign of life to his corps like appearance. He had waxy skin which was stretched tightly over his bones. He blinked surprised at Harry's tone and demeanour. This was not what he'd expected and how did Harry know about Peter? He stepped forward slowly.

Hermione's wand twitched but Harry's attitude was confusing her as well so she didn't do anything.

They stood like that in a frozen standstill for what seemed like forever.

And then came a new sound…

Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor … someone was moving downstairs.

"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly but as she opened her mouth again nothing came out. She stared at Harry's back. _'Why?'_ she wondered.

The footsteps thundered up the stairs and then…

"Expelliarmus," Lupin shouted. Harry's wand flew out off his hand but he didn't care. He didn't need it. Master Salazar had taught him without a wand after all. He held his hand up palm out.

Lupin caught the wands and then he looked between the teens and Black before staring at his old friend. Then he spoke in an odd voice, a voice that shook with some suppressed emotion. "Where is he Sirius?"

Then it clicked in Harry's head Scabbers was Peter. It was the only person that both Lupin and Black would be after. "On the bed with Ron, Professor," he said coldly.

Lupin turned to look at him. "Harry?" he looked surprised.

"It's Peter isn't it?" Harry looked at his Professor. Both Lupin and Black was staring at him in surprise now. Not to mention Hermione and Ron since they didn't understand what was going on.

Then Black nodded.

"But how is that … unless he was … unless you switched without telling me …"

Black was nodding slowly his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face. Then Lupin moved forward. He pulled Black into a bone crushing hug.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT! Hermione screamed, and Harry regretted removing the Silencing Charm from her.

Lupin let go off Black and turned to her.

"You…you…"

"Hermione…"

"…you and him!"

"Hermione calm down…"

"I didn't tell anyone!" the girl shrieked. "I've been covering up for you…"

"Hermione, listen to me, please!" Lupin shouted. "I can explain…"

Harry stood there looking at them. He was seriously considering placing a new silencer on Hermione. Who knew she could be so loud and shrill.

"Harry please…"

"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry don't trust him, he's been helping Black into the castle, he wants you dead too … he's a werewolf!"

There was a ringing silence and then…

"HAHAHAHAHA," Harry was doubling over in laughter tears falling down his face.

Lupin looked at him amused. "Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he said. "Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I've not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead…"

"But," Harry said as he picked himself of the floor. "Remus is a werewolf, and I have known that for months… ever since Snape gave him his first dose of Wolfsbane actually," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "what has he done to you?"

Harry looked at her annoyingly. "Nothing Hermione well he did teach me to protect myself against Dementors…but I doubt that's what you mean." Then he turned towards Remus. "Saw what happened on the map didn't you Moony?"

Harry had handed the map over to the man during one of their training sessions. He wanted to make sure it wasn't dangerous and he was rather certain Remus was one of the creators of the thing.

"Yes I did," the man answered with a smile.

"Harry what the hell is going on?" Ron asked.

Harry blinked. "They," he motioned to Black and Lupin, "want to kill Peter the man who really betrayed my parents to Voldemort. Scabbers your rat isn't really a rat he's an Animagus. Black broke out off Azkaban in order to kill him…" Harry's brows furrowed. Then he turned to a rather flabbergasted Sirius Black. "How did you know Wormtail would be at Hogwarts?" he asked.

Black blinked surprised. He had been so completely taken back by Harry's behaviour that he'd almost forgotten why he was there. "Saw it in the newspaper," he croaked and pulled out a dirty copy of the photograph of Ron's family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer.

"How did you …"

Creak!

The bedroom door opened of its own accord. Or at least that's the way it seemed. Harry could feel the change in the air and the magic that entered the room. There was someone there. He flicked his wrist and the person standing under his cloak collapsed.

It was Snape.

"What the heck is he doing here!" Black exclaimed.

"He teaches here Sirius."

Black huffed. "Can we get on with it?" he asked impatiently.

Remus looked over at Harry who nodded.

"Ron can you give me Scabbers please? What they are gonna do won't hurt him if he really is a rat," Harry had walked over to the redhead.

The teen swallowed hesitantly as he watched the grown-ups. Then he looked at Harry. Slowly he handed the rat over to the raven.

"Thanks," Harry said before he walked back to Remus and Black with the rodent. "Ready?" he asked. They nodded.

"Three

Two

One," he dropped Scabbers. The grown-ups pointed their wands at the rat and fired off a blue-white spell simultaneously. They hit the rat which froze for a moment before it started growing turning into a human as it went. Soon a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. He was a very short man, hardly taller than Hermione. His thin, colourless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top of his head. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who had lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small watery eyes.

He was looking around nervously his eyes darting to the door more than once.

"Well hello Peter," Lupin said pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school-friends around him. "Long time no see."

"S-Sirius … R-Remus …" even Wormtail's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted to the door. "My friends … my old friends …"

Black raised his wand but Remus stopped him giving him a warning look before turning back to Peter his voice light and casual as he said, "Well Peter there seems to be a lot you need to answer for."

"Remus," Peter gasped. "You don't believe him, do you… He tried to…"

Harry tuned the conversation out it didn't interest him but he guessed Remus had a right to get some answers. He walked over to Snape's body and made sure the man wouldn't wake anytime soon.

**_"_****_Master who is the rat-man?" _**Zant asked quietly.

**_"_****_He is the one who led Voldemort to my parents and I. He is the reason they are dead," _**Harry answered. He could feel Zant's coils tighten around his neck.

**_"_****_He stinks… I wouldn't have eaten him as a rat. I would rather not have to bite him now," _**the serpent told his Master and Harry had to stifle a laugh.

**_"_****_I promise that no matter what happens you won't have to bite him Zant," _**Harry hissed back.

It wasn't until the rat-man approached him that he started paying attention to the conversation once more.

"Harry … Harry … you look just like…"

Crash!

Harry had sent the little rat flying. His hair had slipped out off its ribbon it was floating serenely around him. He stood up slowly his green eyes glowing in the dark. Halfway across the room he stopped. If he killed the rat here and now Black wouldn't be able to prove his innocence. "We will bring Wormtail up to the castle and he will tell the authorities what he's done. That way you will be free to live your life after," he turned to Black.

The room was silent for a moment.

Everyone was staring at him.

Then Remus moved. He tied Peter up and then he helped Ron with his broken leg. He gave Harry's wand back to the teen and Harry pointed it at Snape's unmoving body. He waived it and the man rose up in the air. He walked out of the room and headed down the stairs not really caring if anyone was following him.

He had made it all the way out before he stopped. Black had been following closely behind him. "You know what this means," he said abruptly to the raven. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," Harry said. He lowered Snape's body down to the ground.

"Yes …" Black said. "But I'm also … I don't know if anyone ever told you … I'm your godfather."

Harry turned to the man. "You are?" he said surprised.

"Yeah, your parents appointed me your guardian … If anything ever happened to them …"

Harry tilted his head. If Black … no, Sirius … his godfather Sirius was talking about what he thought he wa…

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," Sirius said. "But … well … think about it. Once my name is cleared ... if you wanted a … a different home…"

Harry was having trouble breathing. He bit his lip. Leaving the Dursleys was one of his dreams. Not as important as seeing Link again but close. "You would like for me to live with you?" he asked hopefully.

Sirius blinked. He hadn't missed the tone. What was wrong in that household that had Harry want to leave? "Yes," he answered softly.

A wide bright smile broke out over the raven's face. He reached out and grabbed a hold of Sirius and hugged him tightly. "I would love to live with you," he whispered in the man's ear.

A wide grin spread over Sirius gaunt face transforming it completely. He looked years younger for a moment. Then Harry noticed something.

"Shit," he swore.

"What's wron…"

"There is a full moon tonight," the raven said and pointed at the sky. He turned to Ron and Hermione "Get away from Remus now …he's going to turn!" he shouted sending of a spell that cut off the chain binding Ron to Pettigrew.

Everything happened really fast after that. Remus turned and Sirius shifted back into the big black dog. He attacked the werewolf and chased him into the forest but while he was gone Peter had gotten his hands on a wand. He got out off the chains before turning back into the little shabby rat, running off.

Sirius came back bleeding from gashes across his muzzle and back. Harry looked down at the dog. There was little to no chance that even he would find the rat now.

The he could feel the air chill. "Shit … Sirius you need to leave go that way," he pointed. "The Dementors are coming I can hold them off but not if you get caught."

The dog looked at him for a while. It seemed like he wanted to stay.

"Go now give me something to keep dreaming off … Shoo," Harry said forcing the dog to leave.

He could see the black shape disappearing in the distance then he turned back around.

"You really think you can fight them Harry?" Hermione asked terrified.

The raven simply gave a curt nod. He was focusing on his magic. Remus had told him he needed a happy memory to create a Patronus. He searched through his memories and then he realised that he was limiting his search to memories created here on Earth witch was stupid right now when they needed it to survive. He breathed in. There was no need to look for a specific memory anymore. He held his hands out. "Expecto Patronum," he said and opened his eyes. The air between his hands turned silver and then a gigantic wolf sprung forward. He smiled. Link would be a wolf wouldn't he. The wolf ran around the area snapping and growling at the hooded figures.

The wolf chased the Dementors off before returning to Harry.

It looked at the raven with bright blue eyes.

"Link," Harry whispered.

Then everything turned black.

* * *

><p>AN: Hey everyone! Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews.<p>

Now I've got good news and bad news. Bad news is that I'll be away from my computer for the next week so you'll have to wait a bit for the next chapter.

Good news is that since I'm gone for a week now I won't take a week's break at the end of the second segment of the story so once I get back the story will roll on as it has until it is all up.

Have a Happy New Year everyone and see you on the fifth of January.


	28. Loving a Green Flame

**Loving a Green Flame**

.

Disclaimer: So you know how this works :) I don't own Legend of Zelda, Nintendo does.

* * *

><p>A year had passed. Link and Salazar had travelled. They had experimented and Link had learnt as much as he could.<p>

The two of them had talked in length about Link and Harry's adventures in Hyrule and the things Link had been up to after that. They had both come to the conclusion that Harry was most likely back in England.

Salazar was still trying to work out a way for Link to go there but he was pretty certain that he was getting there. He could more often than not be found in his study muttering and mumbling with his head bent over old scrolls and diagrams.

Link sighed he was bored. Sure he had learned loads from Salazar but he wanted to do something. He looked up at the sky. Cloud gazing was no fun without Harry sighing he sat back up. He spotted Epona and Seidan. He and Salazar had picked the horse Harry had once owned up on one of their journeys.

Link was wondering if he shouldn't return Epona to Malon before he left this land.

…

He was being shaken awake a few hours later. Salazar was standing beside him when he finally had gotten bearings back. The blond looked up at the man, a questioning look on his face.

Salazar chuckled. "The food is ready young one," he said.

Link blinked and got up. Then he turned. _'What is that?'_ he wondered. It sounded almost like hooves.

It was.

A young man with light-blond hair was galloping across the plain which stretched out before the house. Link narrowed his eyes. "Salazar, sir, someone is coming!" he called into the house.

The man was back outside in no time. He stopped next to the blond his brows were narrowed.

"Master Sorcerer," the man on the horse called as he came closer. He pulled in the reins before them. "Master Sorcerer we are in need of your assistance," the man said as he dismounted.

Link raised an eyebrow. This man was Annun the Sheikah who took Harry away from Hyrule if he wasn't mistaken.

Salazar and the Sheikah walked into the house talking rapidly with each other.

Link on the other hand walked into the kitchen and ate the food Salazar had prepared for him. The man would tell him if there was anything important going on.

Link was out petting Epona when Salazar called his name looking for him. The blond closed his eyes and focused. His body changed and where the teen had stood there now stood a big brown wolf. He shook his head before running up to the house.

"There you are Link would you please turn back I don't speak wolf as you know very well by now," Salazar had a small smile on his lips as he spoke.

Link shrugged but he froze as a new scent assaulted his senses. He lowered his head and growled. The scent wasn't trustworthy. He could hear a weapon being drawn.

"That's enough young man stand down," Salazar said sharply.

Link took a step back and stopped growling. Salazar was Harry's father after all and the wolf would listen to him … for now. He shrugged again and the fur fell away as he stood back up, sharp blue eyes aimed at the Sheikah. "Master Sheikah," he said his voice cold and unfriendly. He bowed lightly his eyes not leaving the dark one's of the man in front of him. "There is a problem of some sort?" he asked Salazar finally turning away from the Sheikah.

"Yes we will have to leave immediately," Salazar informed him.

Link nodded. He walked into the house and packed his saddlebags. Making his way back out again, the blond hoped he didn't need to deal with whatever crisis they were being called to help with.

* * *

><p>The small village of Atallieru was depressing. Link disliked it as soon as he sat foot in it. He could really agree with Harry's description of the place. He shuddered hoping he didn't need to stay there.<p>

Annun led them down to the dojo in the village. "Master Kenteishu is inside at the moment. Young Sheik is there as well. They are expecting you," the man stepped aside with a low bow.

Salazar inclined his head and opened the door.

They stepped inside and Link instantly spotted Sheik. The smaller blond was not someone he would forget even if the Sheik he had known had really been Zelda. With an expressionless mask in place he walked forward with Salazar. His fingers were longing for a hilt. He so missed having a working sword with him but the Gilded Sword he had been carrying around after his adventures in Termina was too short for him. That and the fact that most swords couldn't survive the magic he was capable off. He had melted two blades during his time with Salazar.

"Master Kenteishu you have asked for my assistance," Salazar said. He tilted his head questioningly. "What is it that you need my help with?"

Link tuned the old man out as he answered. He had no interest in helping these people. His eyes fell on the other blond once more not realising that his expression changed to one of contempt.

Eventually the men finished talking and Link headed outside. _'Farore they are annoying,'_ he thought as he walked. He was going to explore this place and exploring was best done in wolf form.

…

As Link came back to the village, he almost walked into Sheik. He sneered at the blond and narrowed his eyes. The sight of the other blond reminded him of Zelda and Link disliked Zelda quite a lot. He walked past the Sheikah and up to the town square. Salazar was up there with a group of Sheikah warriors surrounding him. They were talking back and forth. Someone raised their voice and other was cursing. The blond raised an eyebrow at their behaviour. According to Harry Sheikah were very restrictive with their emotions yet these people were letting anger and fury through time and time again. Then he noticed something. One of the Sheikah was fiddling with something. He moved forward as the man threw something at Salazar. Link grabbed the man the blade digging into his back. He fell down to his knees, his vision started to blur. There was a commotion going on behind him but he didn't react. He was feeling rather weird …

"Drink this son." Salazar was pushing a vial against his lips. Link tilted his head back and swallowed the chilly liquid. Salazar caught the teen as he collapsed. He narrowed his eyes at the Sheikah. "You have just poisoned the man my son loves beyond anything else," he said his voice taking on a hissing quality. "Do you have anything to say for yourself before I extract my vengeance upon you?"

The Sheikah met his eyes with an unimpressed expression. He wasn't afraid of the stupid trickster.

It would be the last mistake he would ever make.

Salazar's nostrils flared and the man fell to the ground screaming in agony. The Sorcerer took a calming breath. It wouldn't do to kill this waste of space. He deserved something much worse than death. Smirking Salazar remembered how Link had told him about the creature masks the teen had received in Termina. The blond had truly disliked being both a Deku scrub and a Goron. Salazar thought about it for a moment a Deku scrub would probably be worse for the proud man. He focused on the magic in the mask Link still carried with him. The air around them started vibrating with power before a beam of dim orange light hit the Sheikah sending the man flying. As the intense light faded and people could see once more, a small white-haired Deku lay where the Sheikah had fallen. He sat up slowly shaking his head. The large reddish-orange eyes widened comically as he saw his hands. He let out a shriek.

"Wha…?"

The sound woke Link up. He sat up slowly rubbing his eyes. Salazar was sitting beside him. The man's hand was resting on his shoulder. The sound of another shriek had the teen turning his head. Seeing the small Deku scrub sitting on the ground past the gap in the circle of Sheikah warriors, the blond couldn't help but start laughing. Salazar's hand travelled down to his back in order to support the teen. Link looked up at the man tears of mirth running down his cheeks. The blond leaned against the Sorcerer's dark-green tunic. He was laughing so hard his sides hurt. "Is … is he … is he stuck like that now?" he asked trying to catch his breath.

Salazar smirked in response, and Link started laughing again. The Sheikah looked both scared and confused. Some seemed to be holding their own amusement back while others were looking at Salazar with anger in their eyes.

Salazar stood up slowly pulling the laughing blond with him. "You need to rest young one. Come here…" he chuckled as he helped the boy to their house. "Sleep now little wolf."

…

The next morning Link woke early. He decided to explore the area again running in larger and larger circles around the village. The air was cold and clear. It felt good to run around. The gravel under his feet crunched in a satisfactory way as he moved. He was out for hours not feeling like dealing with the annoying warriors, but you could only stay out for so long before the hunger became too much. He got back to the village travelling up the main street in his wolf-form. He stopped as the scent of a person blew past him. Turning he looked in between two buildings. The wolf narrowed his eyes and leaped into the shadows. He shifted back and grabbed the wrist of the Sheikah standing there. "What do you think you're doing, huh?" he asked with a sneer his blue eyes glowing.

The blond Sheikah was taken back. Wolfs did not usually turn into people around him. The teen's eyes narrowed at Link though. Sheik didn't know what the blonde's problem was but it pissed him off. "What's wrong with you?" he asked irritated pulling his arm out off Link's hold.

The blond blinked confused._ 'What did Sheik mean?' _he wondered. Then he thought back concentrating on his encounters with the other blond. He soon realised that he had been rather cold towards the guy. He sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that last I meet 'Sheik' he turned into Zelda and she sent my best friend away. I'm not too happy with her," he bit his lip. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. You weren't there after all," he met the other teen's red eyes.

Sheik looked confused like there was something Link had told him that had seemed strange. A few moments passed and then the teen's eyes widened. "Zelda has sent Harry away?" he whispered as sank down to his knees. Sheik's eyes watered and tears started falling down his cheeks.

"Yeah," Link answered. "She sent him back to England… At least that's what I and Salazar thinks."

Sheik reached up to touch his wet cheeks almost surprised that he had cried. Sheikah didn't cry. Sheikah weren't supposed to show any kind of emotion.

"I'm going after him though. I would prefer being with him to staying in Hyrule. There really isn't anything for me here," Link's eyes fogged, lost in memories.

Sheik nodded before he stood up and dried his tears. "Is this common … not remembering him before you sort of … trigger the memories?" he asked.

"Yes it is," Link answered. "I had to do the same with Salazar." The blond turned and walked back out in the sunlight. He looked back and motioned for Sheik to follow. The smaller blond stepped out next to him his expression grim.

"I can understand why you dislike Princess Zelda. Harry was my friend too. I'll miss him," he sighed. "But you are the one he wants to meet again," he smirked at Link.

Link rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know," he said.

"There you are young wolf," Salazar came walking down the path from the elder's house. "I need to leave with the Sheikah," he looked at Link "but I doubt you wish to come with me."

Link met the man's gaze. "No thank you," he said scrunching his nose.

"Thought so," Salazar smirked at him. "What will you do then? I have a hard time imagining you staying here."

Link looked at the man with a pained expression. "No," he said "I was thinking …

* * *

><p>Link and Sheik were riding down the path leading through Kakariko Pass. The young Sheikah had asked Link if he could come along as the blond picked up the things he was looking for. He hadn't been to Hyrule for years and it was nice to see the lush green plain of Hyrule Field again.<p>

They left the horses out on the field before entering Castle Town. Link disappeared off somewhere as Sheik walked through the town square. The people here seemed happy, content. He almost envied them with their calm easy lives – at least compared to his. The blond ran a hand through his hair. He wondered where Link had disappeared off to. Wandering around he soon realised that the part of town he had entered was not as clean as the rest. He had entered the poor quarters. Shady stores and strange stalls lined the street he walked.

"LET GO OFF ME!"

Sheik turned as he heard the shout of a young boy. The door to one of the shady shops was slightly ajar. He walked forward in long strides. Pushing the door open he saw an old bald man holding on to a young boy no older than eight.

"Release him Ramone," Sheik hissed recognising the man. He reached behind his back and loosened one of his knifes wrapping his fingers around the hilt.

"No why would I do that child?" he asked with an oily smile.

The man made him sick. Sheik took a step forward. "Let go off him or you'll lose something you'll surely miss," he hissed at the man.

The small boy turned around his wide eyes staring at the young Sheikah. Sheik met his eyes and offered him a reassuring smile. Then he looked back up at the man. "Well," he said raising an eyebrow, "let go off him."

The man just licked his lips. "You truly do not know what you have gotten yourself into child," he said.

Sheik rolled his eyes. He was not some street kid with no way off defending himself. He pulled out the knife and moved forward. In one fluid movement he cut the man stomach open and pulled the kid back. He backed out of the store with the boy behind him. Once outside he pulled the child with him, but as they came to the edge of the shabby quarters several men were blocking their path.

"Shit."

Sheik took a deep breath. How was he supposed to do this without the kid getting hurt? He let his muscles tense and then relax. As he prepared to attack, however, one of the men collapsed a blond teen standing behind him.

Link looked up at Sheik. "Need any help?" he asked cockily.

Sheik looked skywards groaning at the blonde's tone.

Link didn't seem all that affected though as he knocked another of the men out his reflexes much faster than any street thug. He moved up to the Sheikah and lifted the small kid up. "Come on kid let's get out of here," he said leaving Sheik to deal with the remaining thugs.

"Annoying Hero," the Sheikah muttered as he knocked the remaining men out. Link was gone as the Sheikah walked out on the town square. "Where is he now?" Sheik muttered annoyed. He pulled a hand though his messy hair.

"Sheik?"

The young sheikah turned around. Impa was standing there looking unusually chocked at seeing him. "Good day Lady Impa," he said with a respectful bow.

"What are you doing here Sheik?" Impa asked walking closer her brows furrowed.

"I was travelling with the young Hero but he seemed to have disappeared on me," Sheik said looking around.

"Link is here?" Impa asked surprised.

"Yes but he isn't staying," Sheik crossed his arms huffing.

"Zelda will be disappointed that he didn't come to see her," Impa looked at her nephew.

"Well Link isn't too pleased with her highness so I can't blame him for not going," Sheik met his aunt's eyes. "He will be leaving permanently soon," he said surprising the woman.

"Permanently?" she looked confused.

"Yeah he'll go after Harry," Sheik wasn't certain it was a good idea to tell Impa but he didn't want to lie to his aunt.

The female Sheikah closed her eyes. She could remember the last time she'd seen the two of them together. She couldn't say she was surprised that Link was trying to get to the raven. She wished she'd realised it earlier … the feelings between the two.

"Anyway I need to go find Link before he does something stupid," Sheik bowed to his aunt, "Goodbye Lady Impa," before turning and walking out off town. He called his horse and the grey steed came galloping over the field. He sat up. In the distance he could see Epona standing by the stairs leading up to Kakariko Village.

… … …

Back in Castle Town Impa was trying to decide whether she should or shouldn't tell young Zelda about her meeting with Sheik and his information about Link. She sighed. It really wasn't any of the princess business what Link did. Impa walked over to the gossip stones by the Temple of Time. She sat down to listen to the messages left by her brethren. Hyrule would lose its hero but Impa was O.K. with that. They would have to deal with things themselves next time.

… … …

Sheik had reached Kakariko as Link came walking down the stairs. The blond was smiling, a truly happy smile. The Sheikah raised an eyebrow questioningly. Link just shrugged. "He will be well taken care of now," he said referring to the kid he'd disappeared with.

Sheik nodded. "That's nice," he said.

Link mounted Epona and the two of them trotted off.

"I was thinking I'd leave Epona with Malon," Link said after a while. "She won't be able to come with me so I thought it might be best to leave her there."

Sheik nodded. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do. "How were you planning on moving around after?" realising a problem with the plan.

Link snorted. "I'll run in my wolf form and use the ocarina pads here in Hyrule," he said with a superior smirk on his lips.

Sheik rolled his eyes.

Night was falling as the two blondes steered their horses into Lon Lon Ranch. Sheik watched as Link dismounted Epona and headed off to the paddock to speak with Malon. He saw the girl laughing and inching closer to the hero. Sheik figured she was flirting with the other blond. He snorted._ 'Really, like Link would want to be with you,' _he thought feeling sorry for the redhead. She didn't even know the boy she was competing with nor did she know she'd already lost.

Sheik turned and studied a lone guay flying in over the ranch. He watched it land on the fence surrounding the paddock. Wondering if he should deal with the bird, Sheik moved forward. He saw Link removing his saddlebag from Epona. The blond was petting the horse. Sheik could see his lips move but was too far away to hear what he was saying. Then his focus was back on the bird. Something was wrong with it … something didn't feel at all right. As he moved closer, he could feel magic surrounding the bird. Guays didn't have magic. Sheik's eyes narrowed. He pulled a needle from his belt and flung it at the bird killing it instantly. When he looked back at Malon Link wasn't there. He turned. The blond was heading over to him the ocarina in his hand.

"I'm taking a short trip to the desert it won't take long," he told the Sheikah when he got closer. "I'll see you in Zora's Domain later yeah."

Sheik nodded. "Sure," he answered wondering what Link needed to go to the desert for.

The tones of the Requiem of Spirits floated through the air and Link disappeared in a dazzling orange light.

* * *

><p>Sheik was sitting inside the Zora's Domain. He was dangling his legs waiting for Link to show up. He had spoken to Ruto earlier. The Zora princess was highly annoying. He wondered if she had flirted with Zelda as well. The thought had him smiling.<p>

"Hey Sheik met Ruto yet?"

The Sheikah turned. A Zora was standing next to him his dark-blue …skirt? … dripping on the floor. _'Wait since when did Zoras wear clothes?' _Sheik thought as he looked closer at the Zora. "Link?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah sure it's me," Link said moving forward. "Bloody useful thing this mask," he said with a smirk.

Sheik snorted. "You realise that Ruto is gonna be all over you if you turn up looking like that right?" he pointed out.

Link looked sick for a moment. "Jeez don't say stuff like that," he berated the Sheikah. He moved forward towards the King's Chamber.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Sheik told the Zora as he stood up and followed him.

Link shrugged. "I'll survive," he smirked. "Harry taught me how to get her really pissed-off you know."

They walked up the last couple of steps. Link walked up to the platform before the king. He bowed before saying. "Your Majesty, I wish to ask your permission to visit the great Lord Jabu-Jabu."

The king studied him for a moment. "Permission denied," he said.

Sheik watched as Link took a few steps back. Then his eye widened when the hero disguised as a Zora ran forward and jumped grabbing the fence separating the King's Chamber from Zora's Fountain. _'By Nayru what are you doing Link?' _Sheik thought as the other teen pulled himself over the edge.

Splash!

Link's feet hit the water on the other side of the fence. He looked back and winked at Sheik before running through the tunnel leading to Zora's Fountain. The Sheikah groaned as he realised that the King would see him as an accomplice. At least he wasn't wearing the crying eye. Impa would have been so angry with him if he'd disgraced the Sheikah. He looked up at the king. _'Judging by his face I should probably disappear from here,' _he thought. He backed away and as the king called for backup he ran down the stairs shadowing to the waterfall covering the entrance to Zora's Domain.

As he sat on a hill by the Zora River he truly hoped that Link met Ruto. _'It will serve him right being accosted by her,'_ he thought.

…

The sun was setting when Sheik heard a strange splash. He got up. Walking over to the edge of the cliffside he narrowed his eyes trying to see what had made the sound.

"You really shouldn't stand that close to the edge Sheik," the Sheikah jumped in fright, "especially since anyone could walk up on you," Link finished.

The young Sheikah turned. Link looked like a Hylian once more his blond hair standing every which way. "Really Link," Sheik said through clenched teeth.

Link raised an eyebrow. "Really," he said smirking. Then the blond turned. "Ruto was in a good mood. That's until I arrived anyway," he chuckled. "She got so pissed off when I told her to stop whoring herself over me. Of course you know … maybe I should have stopped there," Link looked at Sheik. "I really couldn't help myself though. She is so annoying … I gave her this look like she was something slimy living in Jabu-Jabu's belly," the teen smirked, "and then I told her that I've met octos better looking than her."

Sheik looked at the other blond with a pained expression. He didn't know what to say to that really. Sure Ruto may have done things the other time around that sort of justified Link's behaviour but she hadn't done those things this time around. He sighed. He doubted that Link cared, and Ruto was really annoying with her let's hump all things on two legs with a cock attitude.

"So I'm done is there anywhere specific you wanna go?" Link asked Sheik.

Sheik nodded. "Yeah I'd like to…"

* * *

><p>Link was running across the plain which lay before Salazar's home his fury feet barely touching the grass. He flew like a golden-brown streak over the green beneath him. Salazar was home; Link could smell a potion brewing. It wasn't too bad at least compared to other potions the man had made. As he dashed through the door he shifted to his Hylian form. "Salazar sir," he breathed.<p>

The man, who had just left his potion's lab, raised an eyebrow. "Breathe in and calm yourself before you speak young one," he berated the blond.

Link took a deep breath hunching over with his hands on his knees. "My apologies sir," he said as he managed to calm his breathing.

Salazar shook his head amusement smiling at the young wolf. "I have good news young one," he said.

Link looked up at the Sorcerer. He was holding his breath in anticipation. _'Please say he's found a way,' _he thought.

"I believe you will enjoy what I have discovered," Salazar said as he motioned for Link to follow him.

Link walked after the man biting his bottom lip absentmindedly.

Salazar opened a door and stepped to the side.

Link walked through his eyes widened. "What is the meaning of this?" he exclaimed.

Salazar chuckled.


	29. The Quidditch World Cup

**The Quidditch World Cup**

Now, Harry loved flying don't get him wrong, but he only played for the school team because people expected him to. Honestly he hated competing. The only reason he hadn't resigned from the team was because his position as a seeker happened so far away from the rest of the game that it didn't really matter. Not that Harry didn't want to try out some of the moves the professional players had done. He watched the Weasleys running around in post quidditch hysteria. He and Hermione had been invited to come along to the Quidditch World Cup when Mr Weasley had gotten his hands on tickets. It was the first time Harry had accepted the invitation to come and stay with the redheads. He sat down next to Hermione. "They really like their quidditch, huh?" he said with a smile as Fred swooped down on Ron.

"Mmmh, they do," Hermione blinked then she turned to the raven. "I thought you'd be more excited Harry," she said.

He shrugged. "I like flying … but I prefer to do it alone or in a seekers game," he confessed.

She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Seekers game?" she asked.

"Yeah it is a game played only between the seekers. Usually you use a whole bunch of snitches and the one that catches the most wins," he explained.

Hermione nodded as she watched Ron going red-faced because of something Fred or George did.

"It is great training. Ced' and I do it sometimes," Harry looked off in the distance.

Drinking the cocoa he had been giving, Harry wondered how this year would turnout. He sat there listening to the Weasleys talking about the game giving his own input now and then. It wasn't until Ginny fell asleep at the table and spilled chocolate all over the floor that Mr Weasley insisted they all go to bed.

Harry's thought turned to Hyrule and Link as he lay there in the top bunk above Ron watching as an occasional leprechaun lantern flew by. He had been remembering things more and more lately. Before now he had sort of remembered things as he became the same age he had been when the events happened in Hyrule but recently he was getting more and more information from his previous … whatever he was supposed to call it. Lately his dreams and visions were about his and Link's travels through the Fire Temple. Oh Din, that had been awkward. Harry groaned softly.

Harry couldn't tell if he had drifted off into sleep or not thinking of his friend and their adventures. All he knew was that when Mr Weasley shouted for him and Ron to get up he was startled awake. Harry opened his eyes and sat up his senses on high alert. "Wha's goin' on Mr Weasley?" he asked before he slipped out off the bunk-bed. The sounds of the campsite were all wrong. Instead of the cheers and celebrating that he had listened to falling asleep there now were screams and the sound of people running. He ran a hand through his hair glad that he wore sweatpants and a tank-top to bed rather than pyjamas when Mr Weasley told them they wouldn't have time to get dressed. He pulled Ron with him outside.

People were running in panic towards the forest fleeing something moving over the field towards them. It was a crowd of people, all dressed in black, with their wands in the air. Harry's fists clenched as he realised that there were four individuals hovering high above the crowd their bodies contorted into grotesque shapes. Two of the shapes were very small only children. His magic leaped as he watched the crowd. He wondered for a split second what would happen if he shadowed himself into the crowds midst. More and more people joined the marching group. As the group expanded tents crumpled and fell. There were times when one of the persons in the group blasted a tent out off their way starting fires around the campground.

Light fell on the group illuminating the floating people and Harry recognised Mr Roberts the campsite manager. The other three were most likely his wife and children. He turned away from the scene before him. He would most likely attack if he continued to watch.

"That's sick." He heard Ron say. "That's really sick…"

Hermione and Ginny joined them outside the tents – Mr Weasley right behind them. They were pulling coats over their nightdresses. Ron's older brothers, Bill, Charlie and Percy, emerged from the boys' tent fully dressed. They all had their sleeves rolled up and wands out.

"We're going to help the Ministry," Mr Weasley shouted over the noise as he rolled his own sleeves up. "You lot … get into the woods and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

Harry gave a curt nod as Bill, Charlie and Percy sprinted off towards the oncoming marchers. Then he turned and started making his way to the treeline keeping track of the others as he went.

**_"_****_Master what is wrong?" _**Zant hissed. The serpent was lying around the raven's neck invisible.

**_"_****_People are hurting non-magic humans and Ron's father told us to get out off the way," _**Harry answered his familiars question.

The coloured lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium earlier had been extinguished leaving the path bathing in darkness. Harry could hear children crying and people stumbling around amongst the trees. He could feel people pushing him here and there before he got annoyed and raised a ward to keep people at a distance. He was worried what would happen to Zant if the serpent fell off him. Then Ron yelped in pain.

"What happened?" Hermione asked anxiously. She had stopped and Harry located her before making his way over. "Ron where are you?" she asked before exclaiming. "Oh this is stupid … Lumos!" Light flooded from her wand lighting up the ground around her. They could see Ron laying on the ground a couple of feet away.

"Tripped over a tree-root," the redhead said angrily as he got back to his feet.

"Well with feet that size it's hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them.

Harry rolled his eyes as he turned. Draco Malfoy was leaning against a tree a few feet away. He seemed utterly relaxed despite the commotion going on around them. There was a gap in the trees next to the blond that allowed them to see all the way back to the campsite. Harry was concentrating on the group of black-clad people out there and didn't hear what Ron told Malfoy but he did hear the blonde's response.

"Language, Weasley," he said his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?" he nodded at Hermione. Just then a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light lit the sky up.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked defiantly.

Harry closed his eyes. _'Mione please think,'_ he thought as Malfoy opened his mouth to reply. "Granger they're after muggles," he said. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in mid-air? Because if you do, hang around . . . they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

Harry walked forward slowly. He stopped right in front of the pale blond. "Don't threaten 'Mione Drakey-poo," he turned his head to look the other boy in the eyes. His eyes flashed an intense green for a split second. "Wouldn't want to end up there yourself now, would you," he whispered in the blonde's ear. Then he was backing off dragging the other two with him away from the speechless Malfoy heir.

They realised that they'd lost Fred, George and Ginny at some point before they met Malfoy as they moved deeper into the forest. The teens passed a gaggle of French girls who asked them something in French.

"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione and at the boys' questioning looks she added, "You know . . . Beauxbatons Academy of Magic … I read about it in _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe_."

"Oh O.K." Harry said as Ron pulled his wand out.

"Fred and George can't have gone that far," the redhead said. He lit the tip of his wand. Harry froze as he looked at the wand. _'Shit,'_ he thought. Hermione must have noticed the expression on his face because she asked what was wrong. "I don't know where my wand is," Harry answered her.

Hermione and Ron looked at him.

"Maybe it's back in the tent," Ron said.

"Maybe it fell out off your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously.

"Yeah," Harry said, "maybe…" He wasn't too worried really since he unlike the other two could use magic just fine wandlessly.

A rustling noise made all three of them jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out off a clump of bushes nearby. "There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leant forward and tried very hard to keep running. "People high … high in the air! Winky is getting out off the way!" she said before disappearing among the trees on the other side of the path.

Harry had sensed something strange around the small elf though. Like there was another person around. He furrowed his eyebrows. Then it hit him. _'An invisibility-cloak. Whoever was with her is wearing an invisibility-cloak.'_ He turned back to his friends. They were discussing Winky's strange behaviour and house-elf rights. He decided to just keep out off it.

They passed several groups of people standing huddled together as they walked. Then they came upon a group of guys standing by three beautiful Veela. They were all talking very loudly.

"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year," one of them shouted.

"I'm a dragon-killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."

"No you're not," his friend yelled, "you're a dish-washer at the Leaky Cauldron … but I'm a Vampire Hunter, I've killed about ninety so far…"

A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even in the dim silvery light of the Veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister for Magic, I am."

Harry snorted really these guys were stupid. What the heck was wrong with them anyway. He turned to ask Hermione, who knew most things whether it was useful or not, but Ron stopped him.

"Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?" the redhead yelled.

"Honestly," Hermione said as she grabbed Ron while sending Harry a pleading look. Harry rolled his eyes with a smile and grabbed Ron's other arm. Together they dragged their friend away from the Veela. When they stopped the forest around them was quiet.

…

If you were to ask Harry how the rest of that night went he would groan. Let's just say that he would be keeping better track of his wand in the future.

* * *

><p>The rest of the stay with the Weasley's was uneventful. Harry was quite happy to get back to Hogwarts. It was difficult to find alone time with so many people in so small a space.<p>

Getting back to the school was nice. He spent a part of the trip catching up with Luna and listening to her talk about the trip she and her father had gone on that summer. He left Cedric alone knowing he was probably with his girlfriend Cho or patrolling or something like that.

The new DA/DA teacher sent warning signals up Harry's spine but he didn't quite know why. He would keep an eye on the man either way. The man's lessons were interesting though. They definitely offered the raven something to bite in. The Professor had even cast the Imperius curse on them. Harry had been the only one to resist the curse. Of course his instincts had been screaming at him to move out off the bloody way when the man cast the curse to begin with.

Hogwarts was supposed to host the Triwizard Tournament that year and students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were going to join them soon. The arrival of the foreign students was magnificent. As Harry watched them arrive he wondered if there maybe was a way to set up a musical warp-pad on the grounds. Now that would be cool.


End file.
